Aikyou
by Kyo-K40-Sohma
Summary: [COMPLETE!] Tohru has some what admitted that she likes Kyo. Though some things in life can't always turn out the way you planned. Especially when someone is constantly getting in the way, even when you put yourself in the perfect position to succeed.
1. From Now To

_**Aikyou: Chapter 1: From now to…**_

Kyo walked downstairs and entered the kitchen slowly. He bent forward a little as he looked into the refrigerator. Grabbing the carton of milk from the top shelf, he pops the lid off and drinks straight from it.

Slowly and cheerfully, Tohru comes into the kitchen looking not too surprised that Kyo is again up early. "Good morning Kyo-kun!" She says cheerfully, walking to him, and reopening the refrigerator. She pulled out some food and set it on the counter beside the stove and put a frying pan on the stove top, turning it on. Quietly she begins to cook the food she took out for breakfast.

He sat down at the table, and put the carton of milk down, closing it. Glancing over at Tohru, he smiles, looking slightly tired. "Tohru... um... do you need any help with that?" His voice showed his shyness as he got back up to put the milk away. He looked at Tohru waiting for a response.

"Ohh no Kyo-kun, I couldn't ask you to do that at all." She says quickly as he comes up beside her. "Aren't you going to be late to see Shishou?" Tohru asks politely as she goes to a cabinet on the left of them both.

He sighs a little. "Yeah. I was just seeing if you needed help. Bye!" he walks to leave the kitchen and bumps into Yuki, who also, was up early. He yells and falls backwards, crawling backwards away from him.

"Stupid... cat.." He mumbles walking into the kitchen slowly. Looking at the table as he shuffles in, he sits down at it, dropping his head on the top. "Aernn..." he groans softly and covers his head a little with his arms.

"Good morning Yuki-kun," she says softly, flipping something inside the frying pan. "You woke up unusually early today, huh" Tohru asks cheerfully walking to the table and sitting down across from him.

Yuki nods weakly and glances at Kyo who was just staggering to his feet, and pulling himself slowly out of the room, keeping himself against the wall and as far from Yuki as possible.

"Have a good day at Shishou's dojo, Kyo-kun, " She calls happily as she gets up from the table in a hurry smelling the food begin to fairly burn. It wasn't as bad as Yuki's charcoal burning though, not even near as bad.

Kyo mutters an 'Uh-huh' and walks out, his face almost completely red. He walks out of the house and goes down the trail to the Dojo.

Tohru gets four plates out. The fourth one was for Momiji who had slept over without making himself noticed to Kyo.

Coming in, Shigure laughs. "Such a beautiful day! Ahh, I feel like I can put my pencil down for a month and not ever write again!" He hears the phone ring and goes back inside.

"Not write for a month!" A woman's sobbing voice was heard through the receiving end. "You'll never make sob the deadline if you do that," she was yelling sadly and the phone seemed to be at her feet, even though Shigure could hear her.

He laughs a little and responds, "Have no fear my dear editor, I will make the deadline." He smiles and hangs up the phone, walking back into the kitchen. Taking his seat at the table he stays quiet, then receives a queer stare from Yuki. "What is wrong Yuki-kun?" He asks cheerfully, as though he had hearts in his eyes.

"That... was your...editor, wasn't it?" Yuki asks gently, since he was still very weary.

Shigure waves his hand, smiling a little. "She'll be fine. She worries too, too much. " He rests comfortably in the chair waiting for the plate with the food to come to the table.

Tohru walks over to the table slowly carrying the plate of food, wearing mittens on both hands so that she doesn't burn her hands. She places the large plate on the table and they soon begin to eat their breakfast.

She suddenly caught herself thinking about Kyo. Something about him always caught her eye. Whenever she could make him smile or see him smile, she was happy. Or she'd become happy if she were upset. Now, whenever he left to go to Shishou's Dojo she'd feel a little lonely even though Yuki was normally there and the Sohma family.

The Sohma's have an ancient curse set upon them so that whenever they are hugged or bumped into by a member of the opposite sex, they will transform into one of the animals of the Juunishi. Or in Kyo's case, the cat.

It wasn't that she didn't like the rest of the members of the Zodiac. But the fact was, she liked Kyo more. He had more of an accurate personality, as long as he doesn't get angry. She found Kyo a little easier to talk to after she got to know him. And she's found herself blushing almost all the time whenever she's around him.

Yuki looks at Tohru and decides to say something after seeing her spacing out. "Honda-san? Is something wrong?" He asks her seeming much more awake now then he was five minutes earlier.

She shakes her head and smiles then continues to eat happily. "I have to...mm...get ready for work. Enjoy!" She says cheerfully, as she gets up from her chair. Running upstairs carefully she gets her change of clothes and shoes and comes back downstairs and slips her shoes on at the door. She slides it open, and walks out yelling a happy 'Good-bye' before leaving.


	2. You Can Trust Me

_Chapter 2: You Can Trust Me_

Tohru approached the building at which her job was located. She smiles and walks in going into the changing room to change into her uniform and put an apron on. Her job was to clean everything. Throw the trash out, clean the floor, and clean the dishes, etcetera. But she had help from Momiji almost every night. His father owned the building so he worked there almost every day and night with Tohru.

She steadily walks over to a large trash bin just outside the building and drops two garbage bags into it. She dusts her hands together up and down to get whatever dirt remained on her skin. Tohru smiles and pulls the apron off and begins to make her way back into the building to change back into her regular clothes.

Upon changing she comes back outside and kind of skips down the sidewalk. Her eyes were some what closed so she was almost going down the path blindfolded at her own will.

A hand covers her face out of nowhere. "Watch where your going you dummy.." a familiar voice informs her. She smiles a little and opens her eyes. Through his fingers she could see that it was Kyo. Nodding she makes a little 'uh humh' sound. "I've told you before that it's not safe for a girl to be walking around here at night. Especially one like you.." He says sounding a little annoyed.

She smiles at him a little and nods. "Okay Kyo-kun." Responds Tohru sounding just as nice and sweet as she usually does, even with his hand on her face.

He pulls his hand off her and brings it up to his forehead. Running his fingers up into his hair a little. "Ahhh, I don't mean it that way!" He slightly yells. Tohru flinches for a second then smiles again. "Do you understand what I mean!" Kyo questions irritation in his voice.

"Of course Kyo-kun," Tohru answers him happily, her eyes closed as she beams, slightly blushing.

Kyo flails his hands around in front of him. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND DO YOU!" He questions almost getting angry. She opens her eyes and stares at him. Looking down she shakes her head sorrowfully. "AAHH! No! No, I didn't mean to get like this!" Cat-san covers his face with his hands almost confusing himself.

Tohru looks at him and blushes a little; reaching for his hands she pulls them down gently. She smiles at him, meeting his eyes as she looks up at him. Tohru stood very close to him, as she did have to grab his hands. His face got red quickly as he looked back at her. "I…I… I always get like this don't I…" he mumbles to her shyly.

Nodding, Tohru smiles once more, it was like she couldn't help it. Meeting his eyes she responds to him, her voice soft and understanding, "Kyo-kun…you are you." She tilts her head to the side a little, closing her eyes. "If you didn't act the way you do, you'd be just like everyone else. You'd be like the other juunishi." Opening her eyes she looks up at the sky turning her back to him, clasping her hands together in thought. "Plus, I like you just the way you are. Even if you can't just come out and say what's on your mind some times." She spins around and looks up at him, leaning forward, her hands still closed together. Still looking up at him she stayed in that position. "Your special that way. I feel closer to you then the other members of the zodiac." A large smile crossed her face.

Kyo stares at her, a little taken aback. He couldn't figure out how she comes up with such…nice things to say to him. Was she like this when she talked to everyone else? Special? "Does she think I'm retarded?" He thinks to himself and stares at her once more. A small smile crossed his lips. "Your really confusing sometimes Tohru. But…" he pauses slightly and grins, "you act so nice... that…it kind of masks of the strange things you say."

"Thank you! Thank you Kyo-kun!" She was so cheerful as she said this. Tohru laughs joyfully.

He brings his arm up and hits her on top of the head. "Come on…" he laughs after hitting her. "Hoyi..." she coughs out making that sound only a second time ever. The last time she had made that sound she was trying to take the script from the _play _back. Kyo grabs her hand quickly and starts walking. "I said 'come on' don't just stand there." He pulls her along and they cut into the forest toward Shigure's house, the whole forest was basically owned by the Sohma Estate.

It took about twenty minutes to get to the house. The entire way Kyo was completely red. He didn't turn to look at her once the whole time. They both just gazed straight ahead of them, as if they didn't expect anything to happen. A loud crack is heard and Tohru jumps and clings to Kyo's arm. No more then a second later did Kyo have a pinkish smoke surround him and he became a cat.

She panics and drops to her knees, her legs spread in almost opposite directions. "I'm so, so, so sorry Kyo-kun!" she was almost pleading with him. Then again, she always got like this whenever she accidentally bumped into him, or hugged him in any way. Could it be that she was that afraid of someone seeing him and having her memory wiped.

"It's okay…" he waves his cat paw around forgivingly. "Um…can you carry me and my clothes?" Kyo asks looking around, he walks and stands on his clothes.

Rubbing her eyes she puts a gentle grin on her face. "Okay Kyo-kun…" she gathers up him and his clothes in her arms and keeps him close. He rested his head against her arm a little and sighed.

"I feel so dumb, having you carry me!" He shouts having those anger marks appear on the side of his head. Tohru just brings her hand up a little and pets his head gently. "Eh…thanks…" he whispers almost silently to her.

Tohru arrived at the house only to see Hatsuharu and Rin sitting on the wooden made ground just before the entrance. They were on the steps and seemed to be in deep conversation. She sighs and realizes that it was the only way to get in. So, she walked up to them, still holding Kyo and tried to get around them.

Haru grabs her by the ankle almost making her fall. "What's that in your arms?" He questions her, his other hand enlaced with Rin's.

"N-nothing!" Tohru replies, her eyes getting small in some kind of new-frightened manner. "It's just my uniform from work! Yeah that's it. My uniform!" She says quickly trying to shake her ankle free from Haru's grasp.

"Let her go Haru! You damn dumbass it's me!" Kyo pops his cathead up from under Tohru's hand. "Okay? Going fricken black on us out of nowhere!" He yells at him catching Haru by surprised.

He grins and blinks a couple of times. Releasing Tohru's ankle he leans against the wooden step behind him that led flat into the house after it. "Can't wait to tell everyone inside about you getting carried around by Tohru…" Haa-chan mocks a little, clearly still in his black form. "The stupid, sleepy cat getting carried around." Looking at Rin he laughs, making her laugh with him.

"You damn idiot! That's it Tohru! Put me down, right…now!" He wriggled around in her arms a little trying to squirm out of her grasp. "I'll tear your young ass apart you got that!" He screams at Haru, his cat form turning red in anger.

Tohru holds him down in his arms. "Calm down Kyo-kun…" She ran up the steps and inside as quick as possible, slipping her shoes off and putting Kyo's shoes beside her's and Yuki's. She sets him down on the ground. Smiling she walks upstairs and leads Kyo to his room, which was just a few feet down the hall from her room. Placing his clothes on his bed she walks out.

"Good night Kyo-kun. Sleep," she pauses yawning a little. "Sleep well." Walking out of his room, she closes the door gently behind her.

Kyo poofs back to his human form and quickly put his change of clothes on. So he was now in his so called 'pajamas' which was a loose white shirt and long loose black pants. He lies down and grumbles on as she tries to go to sleep about how stupid Haru is when he turns black and such. Then…he suddenly felt like he could hear Akito laughing at him, mocking him as well. "She…can trust me to be by her side, but…what will happen if … I don't win. What then… how would she be able to trust me then." As he slept he remembered Tohru's kind words. 'Your special that way. I feel closer to you then I do to any of the other members.' He slept hearing her sweet voice ringing through his mind.


	3. Akito's Choice in all Matters

Chapter 3: Akito's Choice in all Matters 

Kyo awoke the next morning feeling annoyed towards Hatsuharu for his disruptions in his dreams. Though, it wasn't entirely Haru's fault that he had interrupted his dreams. Sometimes things like that happen. Everything is going the way you planned in your sleep then someone who had caused you mental grief interrupts it. He came to the conclusion that he shouldn't get agitated and pick a fight with Hatsuharu just because he was sleeping in peace, remembering all the kind things Tohru's said to him over the two year period they've known each other. It was close to two years at least, probably a couple more months until that time. When they had first met in her bedroom. He could remember every detail perfectly, though he felt bad about the things he had said at that time.

A loud crash and shatter of wood is heard throughout the house. Behind Tohru had stood Kyo, who was stretching his right arm a little as he grinned at Yuki. "Time to pay the piper rat boy…"He grumbles angrily. Yuki merely had smiled and said, "I'd think he'd send someone stronger." Kyo had rushed at Yuki and in fright Tohru had went to grab him. Slipping on a piece of broken wood, Tohru ends up falling into Kyo, her arms slowly wrapping around him. Next thing they knew, Kyo had transformed and became annoyed and began yelling at all of them a little. Tohru then became slightly faint and fell into Yuki and Shigure turning them into their respective zodiac animals. She had soon been informed of the Sohma Family Curse.

Suddenly he recalls not lightening up to Tohru for many weeks, until he finally realized that she did really care and that she was trying to be an annoyingly cheerful kid. The things he could remember slowly bit at his mind. He couldn't actually believe the things he had said to poor Tohru. Well, he could believe what he said, but it probably made him frustrated and he made it so it wasn't his fault. He convinced himself that at the time he was saying those bad things as a type of defense. To hide what he didn't want her to know. To make it as though she was a bad person, which, turns out, she wasn't.

They all ate breakfast an hour later. The reason for that was it was only a little later then six o'clock in the morning and not even Tohru was awake. Kyo had barely made use of his time as all he did was sit on the roof until he heard Tohru's bedroom door open, which would indicate that she was about to go down stairs to prepare breakfast as always.

As they ate it was quite peaceful, Kyo and Yuki didn't bicker at each other the least bit. It felt like an especially long awkward silence. Pulling himself to his feet, Kyo looks down at the table. "DAMMIT!" He slams both of his fists down on to the table and stares. "Why wont any of you damn idiots talk?" he questions clearly becoming annoyed by the sudden loud quietness.

Yuki lifts his head dully to glare at Kyo. "You worthless buffoon….go to sleep and maybe you can miss more then this banquet.." he mumbles sounding half asleep.

As most likely planned, Kyo quickly fumed. Tohru thought for a moment that she could see steam ripping out Kyo's ears and into the air, splashing against the ceiling. She flails her arms around in a panic being able to tell that he was on the verge of eruption. "Please Kyo-kun! Yuki-kun! Don't fight now…" She was almost pleading with them. The quiet crackling of the rice cooker was hearable for many moments as Tohru looks down in fright. She felt as though their eyes were pushing down on her shoulders. Supposing they were surprised at her pleading and such she apologizes quickly. "Ah…" she says softly to begin, "I'm sorry, was…did I…. I'm sorry." She sat quietly, her hands intertwined together in her lap, looking down at her hands.

Kyo and Yuki stare at her simply puzzled at her forgiving behavior all of the sudden. Not that it wasn't something that didn't happen every day. She felt as if she was always getting in between their constant fighting. They smile at her after a couple of short seconds and both tell her she didn't have anything to apologize for. "There is no need for you to feel as though you have to express regret towards us Miss Honda…" He looks into her eyes calmly like he didn't have any other care at the moment but making her feel better.

"Don't get all mushy you damn rat…" he growls at him as he soon looks at Tohru. "Ah! Right, look, if you get upset over such stupid things as this, then don't bother, okay!" Kyo yells a little at her almost forcing her to straighten up in her chair and her eyes to grow large, completely setting her attention on Kyo and Yuki. Sighing, Kyo rubs the back of his head gently and smiles a little at Tohru. "See, you get all bent out of shape because I yelled, just loosen up Tohru…" he says quietly to her as he pulls his fists off the table and leaves the kitchen to go outside and climb the ladder to the roof where he often gazed off in deep thought or in annoyance.

Meanwhile, back at the main house, Akito lie almost lifelessly across the floor, head on a soft, bean filled pillow that took the shape of your body or head. "Kureno…" calls Akito quietly looking around the room. Crawling across the floor, Akito gets up and looks around once more. Ailments were almost a natural thing - even if they occurred every day- for Akito.

Kureno comes into the room, sliding the door open and closed once more. "Akito…you called me?" He asks softly as he walks to Akito his feet gently pressing against the room's wooden floor boards. He places his hand on Akito's head and smiles. "Let me help you to your bed…" Kureno offers kindly as he grabs hold of Akito's hand.

Akito's white, silk styled kimono barely rested upon the body. It was drifting off Akito's left shoulder revealing her chest. Tilting her head she smiles almost unnoticed. "Fine then…but…first I'd like it if you brought me Shigure, Hatori, and Rin. Something makes me want to talk to them." She whispers into Kureno's ear as she leans against his chest weakly.

He nods without a thought of hesitating. Walking off he calls Rin and Shigure over the phone and goes off to find Hatori within the gates of the buildings 'inside'. After reaching all of them he eventually ends up with only Hatori and Shigure as Rin skipped out on Akito's most recent command that came from Kureno's mouth.

Hatori and Shigure sat side by side in the room Kureno had left Akito. It was dark and the windows that were in there were covered by thick, dark colored curtains. Water dripped through a side panel on the wall so that the sound of gentle dripping could be heard softly echoing throughout the room they all sat in. Shigure was laughing grandly as he always had at an attempt to find out what Hatori had thought of his most recent published book. He merely whispers a, "You sicken me…" and stares across the room toward the weakly sitting Akito.

Grinning eagerly, Akito stands up and slowly stumbles to them and stops in front of Shigure and Hatori. She pulls at her kimono and makes it so it is straightened out upon her pale body. "I understand that that witch Miss Honda is continuing to keep Yuki and Kyo from visiting me…"

Hatori stifles back a sigh hearing Akito call Tohru a witch. "Maybe…it isn't her doings as you think it is Akito…" he whispers to her, his damaged left eye covered by his overgrown bangs.

Leaning forward Akito places her hand on Hatori's cheek. "Ha-san….you dare question my beliefs? You dare think that I, the God Akito, is wrong?" She questions, slowly her temper rising to incredible heights. Her hand slowly rides up his cheek, lifting his bangs. She grins. "Do you want to defy me once more Hatori?" Her face was only inches from his; she could feel his uneven breathing slowly tapping against her face. Backing up she looks at Shigure. "Ahh…Shigure," she seems to smile, but the shadows conceal her expressions for a length of time.

Shigure nods slightly remembering that Akito was still a little mad about the incident where he had slept with Rin while he was with Akito. Though, he was a little angered that she slept with Kureno as payback. He grins a little and stares at her.

"What has this little witch been doing lately Shigure?" She asks practically demanding that he respond with a complete and accurate answer.

He looks down for a moment then looks back up trying to see what Akito was looking at him with. May it be a smile, frown, grin, or many of the other expressions a face can show. Mentally sighing he folds his hands behind his head and leans against the chair a little and takes his time answering. "Well, Tohru-ku…" he pauses knowing that he shouldn't refer to her as 'Tohru-kun' around Akito. "Tohru has been pretty curious about how to break the curse it seems. But, it's not exactly clear…" he stops once more to allow himself to yawn, "See, I have my suspicions that she would like to know how to rid us of the curse because she is friends with nearly all the members of the Juunishi. Even Hiro has been getting used to her constant joy, which, he believed, was completely and utterly…" he clears his throat, "Unnatural. As he puts it at least." He pulls his hands back in front of him and fiddles around with his fingers, and ends up closing them together, looking toward Akito making a failing attempt to make eye contact. "So, I'm not quite sure if she is merely curious, or completely serious about breaking the cur.." his voice trails off as he sees Akito lash out her anger by grabbing a near by chair and completely hurdling it across the room. It smashed into splintery pieces of wood as it made contact with the wall.

"She will not destroy my family!" Akito yells angrily. "Miss Honda shall not free their spirits! Do you understand me Shigure!" She walks up to them startling both Hatori and Shigure. They weren't used to Akito throwing an angry fit around more then one person. It was usually a selected person who she would have brought into the room so that she could personally torture them. Inflicting so much pain you'd wish you would die before you touched the sliding door.

"Yes. Yes. I understand completely my dear Akito…" his voice trails off as he grins proudly. "She will not steal any of us from you. We are yours, and yours only to be commanded…" He reassures her as he stands up leaving Hatori sitting alone. Shigure leaves the room entirely but not before bowing to her as he made his exit.

Kureno was leaning against a wall in the room watching and listening to everything that was going on. He sighs almost sadly.

Staring at Hatori, Akito smiles weakly. "Leave now Hatori. Before I make you go blind in both eyes!" She yells swiping her open hand at Hatori. Slapping him across the face, a red mark slowly becomes visible. He stands and bows slightly, walking past her and out of the room, and off to where he lived in a house on the 'inside' as well.

Turning around clumsily, Akito looks at Kureno and walks to him placing her hands on his chest as if to have a place to rest them. "Kureno….I need you to trap a few people for me…if you understand what I mean…" she whispers her lips just a few centimeters away from his as she lifts herself on to the tips of her toes. He nods almost unnoticeably and places his hands on Akito's. "I suppose that … is a 'yes'…" She mutters, a form of excitement had shot up through her. Akito's mind couldn't help but think that Kureno was her main pawn in which she'd eventually have all of the members back at her side, giving her the ability to order them all around as much as she pleased. Out of nowhere, she kisses him gently on the lips. "Go now…"

Obediently Kureno slips away from Akito slowly and walks out of the room, bowing just before he slides the door open. She sits down in a chair and looks up the ceiling feeling greatly satisfied with herself. The thought that her plan was now full proof made her proud as she drifted to sleep quietly yawning.

Kyo, Tohru, and Yuki were out shopping since their refrigerator at Shigure's house was basically completely empty. The only things that remained were the bowls of Yuki's old charcoal rich diet that he and Shigure once ate regularly. Kyo and Yuki fought most of the way to the market but once inside Kyo made it into a competition on who could shop the quickest. "You damn rat!" He pumps his fist powerfully, " I'll definitely beat you now you good for nothing rodent!" Kyo roars proudly grabbing a shopping cart. "First person to get everything on the stupid shopping list and buy it first gets to eat dinner while the other watches! Got dat!" He yells and sees Yuki agree by nodding and mumbling about how dumb Kyo was to draw attention to them.

They both set off leaving Tohru in complete shock. Her eyes were swaying all over the place as Kyo and Yuki raced about the store bumping into almost everything –except girls that is- that got in their way. Food flipped about as they dove around for the brands that were written down beside the food they were supposed to find. Suddenly, both Kyo and Yuki came charging down parallel aisles. Each of them were finished with the shopping list and all that was left was finding a cash register and having a worker ring everything up.

Kyo pushes Yuki out of the way and skids to a stop near a register. He begins to rapidly place the food on the counter that slid and watched the woman ring up the food quickly one by one as everything slowly began to pile up. Yuki on the other hand was putting all the food he dropped when Kyo bumped his shopping cart with his own.

The woman smiles at Kyo and politely says, "That'd be $200." Her hand was out waiting for the money to carefully plop onto her skin.

His mouth dropped. It wasn't the price that necessarily freaked him out. But it was the fact that he hadn't brought even a penny with him to the market. Tohru smiles at him and walks to him pulling her purse out and hands him the money. "Here Kyo-kun…" He stares at her in disbelief. Not only did she help Yuki with his food but now she had the audacity to give him money. She had helped his opponent. "Then again it must have been hard for her to watch poor, little rat boy struggle to refill his cart," thought Kyo in annoyance. He couldn't stand to be mad at her so he smiles and accepts the money gladly, he hands the woman Tohru's money and waits.

"Sir…" she calls to Kyo as him and Tohru walk off with the shopping cart newly filled with the bagged groceries.

"Ehm?" even his quiet confusion sounded annoyed by now.

The woman sighs. "You're a dollar short…" She replies to his slightly puzzled face. Then she watches the face go from puzzling to annoyance, then on to frustration and to shock.

"YOUR KIDDING ME!" Kyo charges toward the cash register and counts over the money he handed her over and over again. Each time he continued to come up with one hundred and ninety-nine dollars. Turning slowly he glares a little at Yuki seeing him walking off with a full shopping cart, completely paid for with all the food they were supposed to buy in it. He looks at Tohru in disbelief as she stood beside Kyo's cart. "You didn't have ….an….extra….dollaaaaaar!" He roars in anger frightening every single person in the store; he managed to only take Yuki by surprise.

Getting home from their odd trip to the market Tohru begins to cook cheerfully. Though whenever she could hear Kyo walking or rolling around on the roof she would sigh sadly. She really wanted Kyo to beat Yuki for one reason; so that he'd get what he really wanted. Tohru could recall the time where she overheard Kyo and Akito arguing and heard Akito say that if Kyo didn't beat Yuki by the time the high school years have ended he would be locked away in a pitch black room with no windows and squeaky floor boards where he would be mentally tortured.

She shudders and shakes her head wanting to rid her mind of that terrible truth. After she was finished cooking dinner she watched Kyo watch Yuki eat. He was clearly getting annoyed and hungry.

He jumps to his feet and stomps off in anger. Tohru got to her feet instantly and grabbed her plate of food, running out the now open sliding door in the direction Kyo was walking in. Breathing heavily she drops to her knees just behind Kyo. He turns and stares at her in confusion.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" he asks kneeling down in front of her. She lifts her arms up and pushes the plate to Kyo wearily. He looks down at it and then back at her. Placing his hand on Tohru's head he smiles. "Thanks Tohru…" he thought to himself and then hit her with his fist on top of the head. "Go back to Shigure's house, I'll be back inside in a bit, okay?" He tells her making sure she understands.

Nodding she staggers to her feet and stumbles off back towards Shigure's house. Kyo leans against a tree and hears people talking. He stands and peeks out from behind it. The people he could hear speaking were Haru, Rin, Momiji, Hiro, and Kisa. He could hear them saying something about Kureno telling them to meet him there or something of that sort. He walks out from behind the tree and stands in front of them. "What's going on?" Kyo questions in confusion just to now hear the sound of approaching footsteps.


	4. To Great Heights

**Chapter 4: To Great Heights**

They all looked past Kyo curiously. On impulse Kyo, as well, turns around to see Kureno walked towards them. There he was, just as they finished talking about him. What had been the point of those five being told to go into the forest and wait for him to arrive? Kyo stares at Kureno questioning his movements towards them. His expression showed his quickly revealing determination. "What d'you want!" Kyo yells at him basically demanding an answer.

Kureno shakes his head blankly. "There is no need for a beast like you….to be here. Go back to the rat hole you probably live in." He replies, his voice quiet as he spoke.

Kyo glares at Kureno and stays in the same spot. He gets shoved away by him and he hits a tree. Feeling a strange, stinging sensation run up and down his spine. His left hand automatically goes to his back and rubs around quickly, and then he pulls his hand back in front of him. On his red, burning fingers, were specks of blood, but he wasn't too badly hurt that he would be in pain for more then a few moments. He staggers quickly to his feet and stands up straight, watching Kureno stop, leaving only a few feet between him and the other five members of the juunishi. Muttering every swearing type of word under his breath angrily, Kyo begins to look as though he is ready to strike back at Kureno.

His eyes were scanning across the line of Haru, Rin, Momiji, Hiro, and Kisa slowly as if to make sure they weren't objecting to anything. "Now… I have something to tell all of you…" he says softly, pausing as his eyes glued to Haru as he grabs Rin's hand as if he was thinking of being with Rin during the whole talk. "Privately…" he adds firmly. Haru and Hiro appear to glare at Kureno. Letting go of her hand, Haa-chan grins a little. "First…I'd like to speak with Kisa." He says her name delicately, his voice gentle.

Nodding slightly she comes towards him. None of them could remember a time where Kureno acted in such a forceful manner. He was treating them like dirt, in a way that they had never seen. Gripping her hand tightly in his own he walks off fairly deep into the forest. Out of nowhere he grabs both of her hands and shoves her backwards, she falls onto a tree stump, sitting now, her bottom that hurt a little. "Kure…" he quickly cuts her off as he begins to speak over her gentle, soothing voice.

"Look!" He says sounding very angry. Kureno was normally very calm and such, so Kisa was taken aback by his booming voice. "You! Are not permitted to love anyone on the 'inside' or 'outside'. Not one person!" He grabs her wrist and pulls her up to her feet. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? KISA SOHMA!" Kureno bellows. His voice was like a large thunderstorm passing overhead. It frightened her quickly and took major affect. When they went back to the rest of them, she kept her distance from Hiro, so instead, she stood beside Hatsuharu.

Hiro, seeing this, became angered and decided to insist upon being the next person to go with Kureno for their little 'private' conversation. But as he walks forth, Haru puts his arm in his way and he falls down. Haa-chan walks with Kureno to where he had take Kisa. "What did you say to her you little, good for nothing suck up?" He exclaims questioning him. "She looks like she saw a God damn ghost!" Hatsuharu had looked as though he had blown a fuse. And…well, that's cause he did. He was now **Black Haru. **Kureno sighs and stares at Haru. "ANSWER ME YOU DAMN FREE LIVER!" He swings his fist at Kureno.

Catching his fist quickly, he trips Haru, and pulls his arm behind his back. His knee rested on his pulled arm. "See here, you are not permitted to make any kind of physical contact with Isuzu! Okay?" He says in annoyance. Kureno knew he was being commanded by 'The God' to do what he is doing, and he couldn't help but feel bad suddenly for Haru's concern. Although, of course, he worries about everyone except himself and Akito. "You are not to touch, hug, kiss, sleep with, or talk to her." He orders. Haa-chan tries to wriggle around in an attempt to get Kureno's knee off his back so that he can take him down.

"MAKE ME YOU BASTARD!" He spat in anger as he tried to grab him with his free hand. Kureno merely grabs his other hand, and puts it under the same knee.

"I will tell you one thing Hatsuharu….you disobey what I have ordered you to do. Akito will unleash her fury upon Rin in front of you." He informs him, feeling a joyful feeling of power surge through his veins. He knew he has changed, but it was all for Akito's pleasure. "Tell me that you will not go anywhere near her! Tell me that the only times you'll ever speak with her is during the Sohma New Year's party!" Kureno was demanding the answer to be 'yes' to both questions.

Swallowing slightly, Haru could feel a lump materialize in his throat. He couldn't answer. He didn't want to. He had to. Pulling his head to the side to glance at Kureno he spits at his pants and replies, "Fine…" in a defeated type of tone.

Getting to his feet swiftly and kicking Haru in the chest, Kureno looks down at him. "Leave and go back to the Main House." He commanded, grinning proudly. Once more, the feeling of raw power ripped throughout his body like a cheetah that was trying to catch its lunch. It was eager and brought the need of more. As Haru gets up and runs off in the correct direction of the Main House, he laughs smugly.

Rin had found her way to the area Kureno and Haru were located. She found Kureno by himself. "Kureno! Where is Haa-kun!" She questions charging up to him. Swinging her open hand, Kureno clenches his hand around her wrist tightly, twisting it down so that she felt great pain. Letting out a yelp of pain tears fall down her cheeks. It was unbearable. "How…. What's wrong with you!" She yells out trying to fight against the pain. Rin began blinking a lot as she made a futile attempt to fight back her tears. "LEMME GO KURENO!" She shouts and then gets released, leaving the momentum of her pulling away to push her to the ground. Looking up at him slightly fearful, Isuzu cowers, crawling backwards only to be caught against a tree.

"These orders are simple." He says softly as he eyes Rin. "You are not to go near, touch, kiss, hug, or even speak to Haru, ever again." Kureno sounded as if he were laying down laws, which he practically was. Isuzu glares back at him, biting her bottom lip. She couldn't ever be away from Haru again after they had finally gotten on the same level and were finally together in all ways. "If you do….you will suffer consequences at the hands of our God." Finishes Kureno making a good attempt at sounding cruel. Not that he really had to try because the way he was acting was good enough.

Tears began to stream from Isuzu. She couldn't believe her ears. He sounded so proud of what he was doing. Kureno actually looked as though he was enjoying tormenting the few he has so far seen. "Oh, and I forgot to add that the only times you can speak with him are when you are at the Sohma New Year's party." He kicks her ankle and walks back to the remaining four people, only two that he had to inform: Momiji and Hiro.

He got there and grins gently. "Hey!" Kyo exclaims furiously. "Where is Rin and Haru?" Kyo asks roughly as he stays planted beside Kisa. She, surprisingly, was clinging to his arm in fright of just seeing a glimpse of Kureno.

"They went home, beast, and you should too!" Kureno shot.

Kyo grins and shakes his arm loose of Kisa's grip. "Now, see here, uncursed boy! Just because you are Akito's damn puppet, doesn't make you any damn different! Akito's messed up, and so are you." He was shouting as he stomped closer to Kureno. Snapping his fingers Kyo startles Kureno. At the sound of the snap, Kisa, Hiro, and Momiji went running. Clearly they had sorted out an idea incase something -such as this- were to happen.

He smirks and places his foot at Kureno's throat. "You may have gotten into Haru's and Isuzu's heads, but the rest of us can do what ever we damn well please, got that!" Kyo pushes his foot down harder, forcing Kureno to attempt to gasp for air. His hands were clenching Kyo's ankle trying to pull it from under his chin. He was clinging to dear life as he attempted to free himself. Kyo, by choice, pulls his foot away from Kureno and begins walking, the pauses shortly, turning his head to look at him. "Don't ever…set foot near me…" he notifies Kureno and then continues on his way back to Shigure's house.

Walking into the house after sliding the door open he spots something that, on any usual un-normal day, would piss him off. Sitting in the living room, squeezed onto the couch were: Hiro, Kisa, Momiji, and Tohru. All of them were chattering away like crazy, until they notice Kyo. Tohru's face gets a little red as she shoots to her feet and runs to him. "Your home!" She exclaims happily. On sudden urge, she almost flings her arms around him as she had almost done when Momiji and Hiro walked up to her. Kisa she hugged lovingly once she set foot on the porch. Momiji almost clung to Tohru. And, Hiro, well, he went straight to the living room, sat down, and demanded orange juice. She looked especially excited to see Kyo as the others had told her how Kureno was, mostly according to Hiro, 'A man who enjoys manipulating little children in agreeing with things that they didn't want to not have to do.' Which was awfully confusing to Tohru, Kisa, and Momiji, so they just agreed that Kureno was 'off his rocker'.

He smiles at Tohru and looks to see Shigure staring at all of them. "My, my, my!" He exclaims coming into the living room.

Kyo stomped off away from everyone and charged up to his room; irrationally tossing his shoes out the window only to realize he had no other shoes.

Shigure claps his hands together and rubs them up and down. "Now, why have I been blessed with the likes of you three?" He asks referring to Hiro, Kisa, and Momiji. Two of them usually resulted in Kyo getting angered and engaging in fights that end up tearing apart his magnificent house.

Hiro stares at Shigure. "Do you not want us here?" He asks. Shigure flails his hands around in front of himself. He couldn't help but get confused and annoyed by Hiro's little rants on how they are implying this, and saying that. "You expect us kids to be outside, all alone, after being offended and harmed by a friend, a family member of some sort?" Hiro questions trying to act insulted. Shigure slaps his forehead realizing that it has begun and he couldn't ever figure out a way to stop it. "You want us to go around, without chaperones? Are you expecting that we know everything? Is it to my attention that you are implying that we are not a lovely blessing that has been set upon you, so that you can take care of us?" Hiro was almost full of psychological questions that can either: Make you think, annoy you, piss you off, or hit him. The last three seemed to all be in the same category, which was, 'Hatred Of Manipulation'.

Sighing Shigure walks up to Hiro and leans forward to look at him eye-to-eye. "I am not implying anything my dear boy…" He says gently, and waves his left hand in front of them as if he were in disbelief of Hiro's accusations. Turning and walking back to the threshold of the kitchen he mutters, "That kid is gonna be the death of someone that doesn't have much brain power." He groans, "That means he may end up talking my dear Tohru to death," his eyes grew a little wide and he shakes his head.

Yuki stood in front of him and appeared a little irritated. "Watch what you say, Shigure… some stupid things you say will land you in a nuthouse beside Ayame's shop.." he mumbles then shoves past Shigure. "And don't refer to Honda-san has 'my dear'. It's not right." He waves to Tohru and sits down with them in the living room as they all begin to play Dai Hin Min (Rich Man, Poor Man).

Kyo lie upstairs in his bed quietly. One foot firmly planted on the bed, his knee in the air a little, and his other leg outstretched. His left arm was behind his head, his right hand rested on his stomach. His attention was set on the window in his room since he was gazing out it. He knew that for the next two days he would be going to stay at Shishou's Dojo as he was to stay their for three days a week. He sighs a little. His mind was on so much now. The start of the upcoming school term: Which he considered to be his last chance to have a real life after it. Then his mind was on Tohru and how he felt about her. Of course there was the thought of Shishou and staying with him as often as he did. Some much was racing through his mind, he felt like he couldn't keep up with all of it. Then it came to him, there was also the matter of having to find out what Akito, Kureno and -who he has always expected- Shigure. She was going to great heights just to ensure that she got something her way. Was Akito afraid of something happening? Did she sense something leaving her power? Kyo couldn't pinpoint it and he knew he'd have to think some more later.

He could hear the cheery voices of everybody downstairs. Even Hiro sounded as though he was having fun, getting to play a game with everyone that he could attempt to enjoy. Kisa was always yelling in glee as she won for the first time in the fourteen games they had already played. He sat up completely and then got off the bed. Walking out of the room he hears loud, charging footsteps. His eyes grew extremely large as he skid to the window. Fiercely he began pulling up at the window, sadly he had forgot to unlock it, and he could hear the running getting closer. "OH NO! KA-GU-RA!" He yelps hearing the door slam open. Kyo begins to viciously punch at the window. "Not now!" He exclaims pleadingly. The locks on the window eventually unlatch themselves and he manages the pull the window up. He goes to jump out and Kagura takes hold of both of his ankles. Kyo was now hanging upside down, barely out the window, by Kagura.

She whips him back in with a quick snap and he smashes through some of the wall. Spotting the scratched up, back of his shirt she throws him into the air in sad hysteria. Catching him, she spins him around as she twirls in circles, holding him by his ankle and hand. "YOU STILL DON'T CALL ME KYO-KUN!" Her voice sounded so evil.

"I SEE…. AHHH! YOU THREE TIMES," pauses in incredible pain, "A DAMN WEEK!" She drops him on the ground then jumps on his back and examines the scratches and slight trickles of blood that was spread across his back from various small scratches when Kureno shoved him earlier. Probing at his little scratches with her finger, Kagura soon grabs Kyo by his hair and pulls his head back.

"So…you…" tears were slowly dripping from her eyes now. She was so upset, "You just don't care about me Kyo…I love you, and you treat it like it's nothing!" Kagura shouts sorrowfully.

He glances at her from the corner of his eye, trying to put up with the pain. Opening his mouth to speak, she slams his head into the ground. A cut opens up just to the right of his right eyebrow. She gets off his back and stands, her hands intertwined behind her back. "Can't you just….just this once…be happy that someone loves you like I do…" she whispers quietly.

Kyo stands up and stares at her, her back was to him. He sighs and grabs her hand and turns her around. "Kagura….I appreciate how you feel…but," he stops and gulps a little, "I just don't feel the same way, you know?" She nods tears still dripping down her cheek. He smiles gently and then pulls her to him and hugs her. "You try really hard, you know that…." He whispers softly, "I'm happy to have you as a _friend_ but, only as a _friend,_ okay, Kagura?" Kyo asks pulling away from their embrace.

She sniffles and nods, rubbing her eyes to wipe away the tears. Kagura really did love Kyo and took his promise from when they were younger to heart. She remembered him pleading and yelling for his life, "Fine! Fine! Kagura! I'll marry you! Just don't kill me!" She laughs seeing this in her mind's eye.

Kyo pats her on the head and walks passed her and out of the room. His footsteps echo throughout the house as he came down the stairs. "Dai Hin Min?" He asks trying to sound surprised at this.

Tohru smiles. "Yes! Come on Kyo-kun, we're starting a new game, you can join in if you like…" She offers politely.

Seeing the annoyed face on Yuki, he grins. "YEAH! I'm in! And when we play I'm gonna beat…" he pauses pointing across the table they were all sitting at to Yuki, "YOU! DAMN RIGHT RAT BOY! Watch me wipe the floor with your pretty boy face!" He shot insults left and right during the whole game whenever he had the advantage over Yuki.

To Be Continued…..in Chapter 5.

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****So far I've really enjoyed typing this fanfic, as I try to type a chapter a day for many of my fanfics that I try to keep updated regularly. I just started indenting...cause...well, I didn't know how to edit the chapters...(don't ask,lol)**

**What's that in Kyo's hand! Oh yes, it's the next Chapter of Aikyou! Lol, Couldn't resist, they always have that on the back of the manga at the end of the summary.**

**Please R/R**

**Thanks:**

**Luna-Starr- Thank you for the review, as your review is the only one so far. In response to you being surprised that Akito, is in fact, a girl. Its revealed in the manga and the anime creators didn't know about that until after the first anime season was finished. I think it's volume 11 they reveal he's actually a she….:twitches: I hope you'll enjoy the rest of this fanfic. **

**K40Sohma- Thanks! And I wonder why Ppl don't review my story too,lol. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story to come.**


	5. Utterly Shocked

_**Chapter 5: Utterly Shocked**_

Kyo slams the playing cards on the table angrily. "HE CHEATED!" He yells jumping to his feet abruptly, pointing at Yuki. His rage was incomparable to the likes of any one in existence as always. "THAT DAMN RAT WON BECAUSE HE BROKE THE RULES!" He continued on, which was beginning to annoy Yuki.

"I didn't cheat, you stupid, worthless kitty…" Yuki states simply as he drops his cards back to the table and stands up. "Now….I think I hear your mother cat calling…" he mumbles and walks passed Kyo and everyone else.

Kyo looks at Yuki and becomes infuriated. He throws his fist at him only for Yuki to move out of the way, grab his wrist, and kick him in the face, launching him through one of the walls of the house. Shigure comes hurrying in hearing the loud crashing sound. His eyes closed as he enters the living room he mutters in a strange type of prayer, "Please…please…don't let…" he pauses. Everyone else was looking at him nicely thinking he was going to say something thoughtful. "My house be destroyed." Each of the people who thought he was going to say something nice let out a deep sigh, except Tohru who was staring out the broken wall, arms flailing around as she looked from what side to the next repeatedly calling 'Kyo-kun! Kyo-kun! Are you okay?' Shigure's eyes flutter open, full of anxiety. His eyes sudden become very large. "MY HOUSE!" He mourns at the rubble outside the broken wall. They all stared at him like he was crazy. Tohru, on the other hand, was attempting to pull all the broken pieces of the wall off of Kyo to make sure he was okay.

"Kyo!" She calls digging deeper into the rubble like she was digging a hole. "Are you okay?" Tohru's eyes were all spirally like she thought something was wrong with Kyo, even though she hadn't seen him yet. Falling onto what was left of the rubble a gentle 'poofing' sound was heard and she rolls off the rubble and sees Kyo. Her eyes get wide with excitement and discovery. "I FOUND KYO-KUN!" She says stating the obvious. But, that was a good sign for everyone that remained in the house. She was okay again. Whenever she got like this when seeing someone get hurt it worried them because they'd think there was something wrong with her. All of them had felt this, except Hiro, who still somewhat disliked her. Then again, Hiro wasn't nice to anyone really, and he tried his hardest not to say anything bad to Tohru because he knew it'd hurt Kisa's feelings as well as Tohru's probably. Tohru gather Kyo up in her arms. His furry, cat body was covered in scratches and bits of blood. She pets him a little.

He groans in annoyance. "I'm not your pet! Put me down!" Kyo shouts trying to wriggle out of Tohru's hands just as he had tried the night Haru and Rin saw him being carried by her.

Tohru looks at him in concern, her eyes soft now as usual. Like when she is walking around the house with - what Kyo called- 'her idiotic expression'. "Kyo…I don't think you're my pet." She laughs softly, covering her closed left hand over her mouth a little, and then removing it. "Its just that, I wanted to make sure you weren't hurt." She informs him happily.

"Take a guess dummy!" He barks at her (not like a dog). "That damn Yuki kicked me through a wall! What do you expect!" Kyo yells in anger and jumps out of her arms.

Her eyes were closed and she shook a little hearing Kyo continue to yell at her. He stares at her and then sees tears slowly dripping from her eyes. The expression on his cat face changes significantly. "T-Tohru…" he stutters a little then walks up to her, his front paws on her legs since she was sitting on her knees. Jumping onto her thighs he looks up at her face, tears dripping onto the top of his head. Kyo's head would twitch as the little droplets of water dropped onto him. "I….I'm…" he stops seeing that she wont stop crying. "Will you quit it!" He says fairly loudly. She rubs her eyes and looks at Kyo who was standing on her lap. "I'm sorry I yelled at you…Okay!" He says quickly so that Momiji and Hiro don't hear him, since he wasn't in the mood to hear either of them crack a joke of any sort.

Smiling she nods and stands up. Tohru bends back down a little to pick him up and then. _POOF! _The pinkish mist surrounded then and she slams herself against a tree, covering her eyes. Kyo changes incredibly fast, so no one saw anything even if they want to. Tohru was quick to ram into a tree so…who knows what she thought she saw or did see. Kyo looks at Tohru. "Sorry 'bout that…" he mumbles walking up to her. Grabbing her hand, he turns her around to see her eyes closed. (When she heard his voice she put her hands down and kept her eyes closed.) Blood was slowly trickling from her forehead and onto her nose. His eyes grew wide. "T-Tohru…you're bleeding!" He exclaims in surprise. "YOU SLAMMED YOUR HEAD AGAINST THE TREE DIDN'T YOU!" He places his hands on the top of his head in annoyance. "Open your damn eyes." Kyo says to her quickly.

Momiji, the moment he heard Kyo say that she was bleeding, jumped to his feet and went running to the bathroom. Coming back he jumps to the outside ground from the broken wall. Stopping beside both Kyo and Tohru he opens up a band-aid and puts it on her forehead. With his other hand he wiped away the blood with gauze. She was still smiling nonetheless at both Kyo and Momiji. She couldn't help but be happy that they cared for her so much, the others' still inside the house worried, even Shigure had momentarily stopped mourning over the damage done to his house to see if Tohru would be okay. "Th…thank you…Kyo…Momiji."

Kyo rubs his head in embarrassment. But Momiji quickly grins, becoming very pleased with his quick thinking, putting his hands at his waist. "Your very welcomeeee Tohru-chan!" He exclaims now hopping around becoming very energetic.

Running into the house, Kyo bumps passed Yuki and he continues on to go upstairs. Each of them looked very surprised. They didn't know what had occurred that made Kyo leap out of the little fiasco that went on that had been cause by his anger in the first place. Opening his bedroom door he sees something that makes his heart skip just about every other beat.

What made him go running was the fact that out of all the commotion he had heard a crash of something near where Kagura had slammed him against in his room. Even with Momiji jumping up and down. None of the others' heard it because they weren't paying attention. Standing in the middle of his bedroom was Akito. His eyes got large. Even though the person's back was to him he knew exactly who it was. On her knees, crying in pain was Kagura. There was blood on Kyo's bed. Kagura's eyes were closed, as she did not want to meet Akito's eyes. He had suddenly gone into shock, and he found it hard to breathe or speak, let alone move around and inform everybody about what just happened.

Akito's hand was raised, blood stained on her fingers. She brought her hand down viciously and swiped at Kagura's cheek. Powerfully she slams against the ground, her body sprawled across the floor of Kyo's bedroom. Blood was dripping from her cheeks, her arms were bruised, and her legs in complete pain. A chair was broken and so was a bedpost. His closet had a large cracks in it as if someone had their body forcefully slammed or shoved into it. That body was most likely Kagura.

His mind was scratching at his face now. He had to speak. He had to find his voice so that no more pain would be inflicted on her. Suddenly his lips moved, his voice was running up his throat to inform him that his lungs and voice box were once again working correctly. "KAGURA!" Kyo yells knowing that if he yells it loud enough someone is bound to come running upstairs to see if something was happening if she was attacking him out of love again.

Akito abruptly spins around and glares at Kyo in annoyance. The running of near footsteps could be heard echoing throughout the now quiet home. Kagura's crying could now be heard from downstairs. Then almost instantly, more footsteps could be heard running towards them up the stairs. Entering the room, Tohru comes to a sudden stop in complete, horrorific fear. Kyo turns around and looks at Tohru. "GET OUT OF HERE TOHRU!" He exclaims.

Her hands covered her mouth in even more fear. She had come up hear because she heard Kyo yelling as if something was wrong. Bumping into Tohru were Kisa and Momiji. Instantly though, Momiji transforms into a rabbit and hops out of the room knowing that it isn't safe in that form when he saw the blood on the bed. Kisa yelped seeing Akito was blood-covered hands.

"My dear….dear Kisa." She says walking towards Kyo, Tohru, and Kisa. "Would you like to be put through this torture again?" Akito questions flicking her wrist to let the blood spatter across the ground. Kyo puts his arm up across Tohru. In result, Tohru puts her arm in front of Kisa so that now they were preventing each other from charging forward at Akito.

Tilting her head, Akito grins evilly. "My children will come back to me…" she whispers. "YOU ALL WILL COME BACK TO ME AND SERVE MY WORD" Akito exclaims loudly, being heard almost throughout the house. Hiro, Shigure, and Momiji were sitting in the living room watching TV. Momiji was too frightened to mention what was going on. But, Shigure knew exactly what was happening so he pretended as if everything were okay. Yuki looks past everyone and spots Akito. Seeing him, Akito smiles happily. "You want to come back to me, don't you Yuki-kun." She whispers to him. "That beautifully shadowed room, pitch black, barred up room that you have become so well acquainted with." Akito took another step towards the four of them. Yuki's eyes were large in pure fright. Kisa was now hiding behind Tohru's leg. And Tohru couldn't even find herself to think straight, because she had grabbed Kyo and Yuki's hands and held them close to her. "You can share it with Kyo right? I mean, you definitely wont fulfill your side of the deal. You've never done it before, and you wont ever do it!" She exclaims proudly. Then takes a quick step towards them making them take a step back, she staggers toward the window and jumps out.

Birds had grabbed her by the kimono and flew off holding her tightly so that she wouldn't drop to the ground.

Kyo's eyes shook with fear. Yuki at the sight of Akito was struck with shock. Instantly though, the four of them had rushed to Kagura's side when they see Akito disappear into the now dark night. She was shaking so much that even when she had embraced Kyo she almost unwillingly wriggled out of his arms that were wrapped around her so that Tohru and Yuki can wipe the blood off her cheeks a little so that she can be a little cleaned up. But afterward they knew she had to be brought to a hospital as quick as possible. And as long as they made sure she had female nurses and doctors there was no apparent way that anyone would discover their curse. Lifting her into his arms, Kyo walks out his bedroom door sideways so her head doesn't head the doorframe.

Kyo, Tohru, and Yuki rush her to the hospital immediately. The doctors quickly tell them the room and Kyo rests her on the bed she is supposed to lay on. The three of them sit in chairs that were spread around the room. Every few minutes they'd switch chairs so a different person would be near the door, window, and her bedside each time. So they all had a chance to think and stuff and the other could reassure Kagura and help her with any thing she needed.

Tohru sat at her bedside first and smiled, placing her hand on her forehead comfortingly. "Kagura-chan…" she whispers, "Please be okay…" Tohru's voice proved to be soothing for her so she closes her eyes and rests with the feeling of Tohru's hand running from her forehead to the top of her head over and over again to help Kagura sleep.

She stops and stands quietly so that she doesn't wake her. In clockwise order, Kyo came next. Tohru sat in the chair near the door, and Yuki moved to the chair beside the window. Sitting down at her bedside now, Kyo tries to pull a smile to his face. "I'm sorry Kagura….I'm so sorry…" he mutters. "I should have stopped Akito…you wouldn't be as badly harmed if I had stopped her…" His voice trails off into a streak of sad expressions from him. He had never seen anyone this roughed up close before. Sitting there much longer then Tohru had, Kyo smiles at Kagura as her eyes flicker open. At the sight of Kyo she almost jumps, but he quickly pushes her back down to the bed softly. "You're going to overexert yourself…" he says softly. She nods and smiles at him happily.

As he gets to his feet, she grabs his hand. Just as she began to speak, Kyo spoke over her. "We're all taking turns at different spots, I'll be back," he laughs a little and pulls his hand away from her's and sits in the chair beside the door, Tohru now at Yuki's former seat, and Yuki at Kagura's bedside.

"Y..Yun-chan." She says quietly looking almost as happy as she did when she saw Kyo. "How are you?" Kagura asks trying to make polite conversation since she didn't want to be complaining about her injuries and how much pain she was in.

"Kagura…. Why…why did Akito attack you?" Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own. He was curious about why Akito would attack her if she didn't have a clear reason. Maybe that clear reason was a wall that he and the others' couldn't see, but she could.

Sighing, Kagura responds like she was obligated to do so, "I told Akito…that I loved Kyo." Her voice was in a whisper so that Kyo couldn't hear her. She didn't want him to feel any worse then he already had. If Kyo knew that it was because she told Akito about how much she loved him, he'd feel as if it were his fault. Like, if he had loved her, he would have stayed up in the room and protected her from Akito or something.

Yuki nods and glances at Kyo out of the corner of his eye. He was sitting in the chair trying to act calm as he looked out the window, down five stories to the zooming cars on the street. He looks back at Kagura and smiles. "I'm just glad that you're going to be okay. And…" he pauses and then changes his tone to a gentle whisper, "Next time you see Akito, tell her that you no longer love Kyo, even if you truthfully do." He advises her to see if that would change Akito's mind in any way. It seemed to him that Akito got angry whenever someone had told her that they loved someone.

Example one is Hatori. He went to Akito to ask for her permission to marry Kana Sohma. She wasn't apart of the Juunishi but she was most definitely apart of the Sohma family. For saying this Akito hurt Hatori's left eye. It depressed Kana that it may have been her fault, so Hatori was forced to suppress her memories. Then the next case was with Haru. He told Akito that he loved Rin and then the next day she attacked Rin and made her go to the hospital for a very long time. Then when Hiro went to Akito to tell her that he loved Kisa, Akito gave Kisa wounds that took two full weeks to heal.

It brought Yuki to the conclusion that: Akito couldn't bare the fact that they had come to her and told her that they loved someone that wasn't her. Or something. Maybe she didn't want anyone in the Sohma family to feel love because she believed that it wasn't right. She wanted all of them to herself. Just as she said, Akito wanted them to serve her. He sighs and stands looking down at Kagura. "You should go back to sleep. That way you don't have to feel as much pain. When you're awake, you're aware. So, go to sleep and be unaware, we'll be here all night, we have permission." He explains to Kagura and she nods closing her eyes.

Only minutes after Kagura had drifted to sleep. Yuki stays on his feet and Kyo stays seated realizing that he isn't moving. "I…think I know why Kisa, Kana, Rin, and Kagura have been harmed." He begins firmly, his voice a little shaky when he began. Kyo and Tohru's attention had been captured and were being held now by Yuki. "Do you notice, that when one of them got hurt it was when someone admitted that they loved that one person to Akito?" he asks them to see if they even noticed them.

Tohru and Kyo shake their heads from side to side blankly. Slapping his forehead, Yuki mumbles, "Of course you both don't…" They stay seated not even noticing Yuki mumble anything extra.

"Well…I did." He says flatly. "Akito is afraid of losing us to other women. Because she knows that we'd rather be around them then her. She got into Hatori's head about suppressing Kana's memories. And he hurt Rin, Kisa, and Kagura because of their love." He stops becoming a very angry at the fact that Akito was doing something so absurd. "She wants to own us! Like we're objects. Akito wants to make us her pawns and have us follow her every word." He stops, finishing what he has to say.

Tohru shudders and hugs herself becoming even more frightened of Akito then she had ever been. Kyo stares at Tohru from the corner of his eye. How could he admit his feelings without harm being done to her? It was physically impossible. There was no way that he could ever say the words 'I love you' to Tohru.

Yuki sighs and looks at the ground, sitting once more, ignoring the rules they had agreed on about switching chairs. He could never be loved now. Not without having the feeling that the one he loved, or the one that loved him, could be harmed.

She couldn't ever love any of the nice people she had met that were apart of the Sohma family, the ones that were possessed by the vengeful spirits. But not caring about that she thinks about the members of the Juunishi. They couldn't love anyone. Period. It was almost forbidden in Akito's mind. So now, they could never love anyone without fear. But she, she was allowed to love anyone that wasn't apart of the Sohma family. That left so many more people. Akito did not allow those many more people that the Sohma's could love. She kept thinking this over and over again. How fortunate she felt. But…she didn't want to feel that way. Tohru was more worried about what would become of the future people that the members of the Juunishi may end up falling in love with. She's seen Hatori's eye. What else could Akito do that could be worse then the things she has done to Kisa, Hatori, Rin, and Kagura. Suddenly, without realizing it, she was becoming tired. And just moments later she was asleep in her chair, being watched over by Yuki and Kyo who were taking turns watching her and Kagura.


	6. Deciphering the Truth

**Disclaimer: > '' forgot about this. I do not own Fruits Basket or any of the characters or anything. (I wish I did)

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Upon awakening, Tohru's mind was filled with more thoughts then she could even keep track of. She was thinking about Kagura's wounds, the sad truth that Yuki had discovered about Akito, and the fact that the members of the Juunishi can never find love as long as Akito is lingering over them. It was bothersome. The thing was that, she knew some members of the Juunishi were already in love with each other, and each of them was eventually hurt. The problem was no longer 'finding love' but it became 'keeping love'.

Kyo looks at Tohru from across the room, where he had remained seated all night. They had to pay the nurses off in order for them to stay till the next day while visiting hours had yet to begin. He spots Yuki who was still in his dead like sleep beside Kagura's bed. Tohru meets Kyo's wandering eyes and quickly looks away as if she knew something he didn't.

Waking up finally, Yuki rubs his eyes seeming a little more aware then usual, since he is usually a zombie when he wakes up. There was pure worry in his eyes when he noticed that Kagura has yet to wake up. His hand touches her motionless, bruised one. "Kagura…" He whispers trying to sound as gentle as possible. She moves around a little, shifting from side to side, not turning over, but repositions herself from one side of the bed to another at the sound of her name. "Kagura…" Her eyes open this time at the sound of Yuki's voice.

"Yun-chan?" She looks at him and then at the others and smiles. "You stayed here? Or did you three just walk in now?" Kagura asks curiously, lifting her head off the pillow a little to see Kyo and Tohru's smiling faces. She could tell the moment each of them made eye contact with her, that they were all troubled and didn't sleep to well._ Their minds were most likely in heavy thought after she feel asleep, _she thought. Dropping her head back on to the pillow, Kagura looks to the side at Yuki.

Yuki smiles gently and says, "We slept over here, we wanted to keep you company." His voice was firm as he said this.

She smiles sweetly at each of them and looks up at the ceiling. Then she glances at Kyo. "You wanted to stay here with me too, Kyo-kun?" Kagura asks him, her eyes almost glowing with joy. She hadn't cared too much about Akito's objection of her love towards Kyo, but, seeing Kyo actually stay here with her and Tohru and Yuki made her think that there still may be a chance at her being together with him.

"Eh...What?" He hears her repeat it then nods. "Yeah…" Kyo stuffs his hands in his pockets as he gets up. Tohru looks at him in wonder. "Just…wanna get out of this kind of environment for a few minutes, that's all," he waves his hand trying to show he wasn't going to go do anything outrageous. "I'll be fine…" Kyo-san laughs answering their questioning expressions. They didn't know the area too well, so in result they quickly became worried. Even Yuki was a little bothered by Kyo's choice at leaving the hospital alone. He had his suspicions that Kyo may go after Akito or be attacked by Akito. Since of course, Kyo was the one that had yelled out Kagura's name that made Tohru and Kisa come running, then Yuki to follow. "I'll be back in five minutes!" He shot becoming annoyed at their quickness to become scared. "Sheesh.." he mutters walking out of Kagura's hospital room.

He walks carefully passed many passing female nurses that had almost bumped into him more times then he could keep count. Entering the elevator, he holds firm to the railings that were inside of it. The doors open and he walks out of it, as well as the hospital. His hands were still in his pockets as he makes his way down the sidewalk toward a convenient store. Walking in he goes up and down aisles looking for food that he likes. He ends up walking out of the store with three cartons of milk, a package of fish, a box of rice, miso, gyouza (dumplings), strawberries, and surprisingly, leeks. He walks back to the hospital and gets permission from the front desk to go back up to Kagura's room.

Opening the door somehow with the bags in his arms, Kyo stumbles in, gripping the bags tightly so that nothing falls. He looks at them all. Tohru and Yuki were sitting at Kagura's bedside. Tohru was on the left side, and Yuki on the right. He sets the bags of food on the table and then out of nowhere, the door bursts open. Momiji flings himself into the room and stops at the foot of Kagura's hospital bed.

"Poor, poor Kaa-chan!" He exclaims sadly, his hands pressed on the bed as he leans forward. "Why did Akito-san do such horrible things to you!" Momiji cries out and runs to Tohru, standing beside her. "Tohruuuu-kun! Whyyy did Akito-san hurt Kaa-chan?" He asks kneeling down at the bedside.

Tohru shrugs sadly and replies, "I don't know Momiji-kun." She stares at the bags of food then smiles at Kyo. "You went shopping for food! Thank you Kyo-kun, now I can start on dinner after we get back home." Tohru stands up and walks to the groceries that were set on the table by Kyo. Looking into it she smiles happily. "You even bought strawberries!" She exclaims happily. Turning to Kyo she bows repeatedly. He stops her head with his hand and stands her up straight. "Eh…." She yelps quietly in surprise.

"You can stop that!" he groans beginning to get a little annoyed. "I've told you hundreds of times. When you keep doing or saying something over and over again it gets on my nerves!" He sighs, then mumbles, "Your welcome though." She smiles looking completely delighted. The mood lightened so fast you'd think Kagura was being let out of the hospital that instant.

Smiling at everyone, Kagura manages to sit herself up. "You're all so kind…." She says this as she watches Kyo chase Momiji around the room after he heard him say 'Someone's been bit my the love bug!' This only made her laugh happily. "I know that all of you have gone out of your way to wish me well…but…I'd feel much better if each of you went home." She giggles a little seeing Kyo and Momiji stop in motion to listen to Kagura. "You all have so much to do. And, I'm happy you have stayed and worried, but, you should get back to your lives….When I get out of this place, you'll be the first people I visit," she laughs lightheartedly.

They each nod and head to the door. Tohru waves as she leaves. Momiji bows slightly and runs out the door, passing up everyone else and exclaiming 'First!' when getting into the elevator before everyone else. Suddenly Kisa comes running to them and hugs Tohru's legs tightly.

"Onee-chan!" She exclaims happily. Her arms still around her legs until Tohru kneels down and hugs her.

They both looked enlightened, except for Hiro who was standing, alone now, behind Kisa. She pulls away from Kisa, her hands on her arms. "How did you and Hiro-kun get here? Did your mother's take you?" Kisa looks down shyly and gets red in the face from feeling embarrassed. "Kisa-chan?" Tohru whispers looking her in the eyes by lifting her head up a little with her index finger.

"Hiro-chan took me here…cause…. we wanted to see if everyone was okay." The hospital door swings open revealing Kazuma Sohma. Kisa smiles at the rest of them, and then turns around and runs with Hiro out of the hospital and towards school.

Kyo smiles a little at Kazuma, who returned it immediately. "I'm going to visit Kagura…see if she needs anything." Grabs Kyo's arm and pulls him to the side. "I've asked Shigure to allow you to stay at his house until Kagura gets out of this hospital." As Kyo opens his mouth to ask a question, Shishou answers him, "I am closing the dojo until she gets out. That way I can watch over things. Make sure she isn't hugged and stuff. Plus, she is one of my students. If you were hurt, I'd do the same thing of course." He places his hand on top of Kyo's head. "Plus…I think it'd be good for you to spend time with Tohru and everyone else. Have fun." Kazuma says grinning a little. Kyo looks at the ground then glances at Tohru who was laughing with Yuki and Momiji.

Leaving to go to work, Momiji runs out the door in a hurry. Tohru catches Kyo's eyes and tilts her head to the side, looking back at him with a happy smile. The grocery bags were at Yuki's feet since he put them down to give his arms a rest for a few moments.

Kyo looks back at Kazuma and nods, walking passed him back to Tohru and Yuki. She waves to Kazuma; Yuki on the other hand bows then catches up to Kyo and Tohru, leaving with me. Kyo's arms were full now because he was holding the bags instead of Yuki. Once they exit the hospital a shadowy figure runs by, and disappears into an alley. When Kyo and Yuki went to go after it, Tohru had stopped them and said that none of them had slept too well. Agreeing they continue on and walk through the forest toward Shigure's home.

They stop dead in their tracks. Kyo's gentle eyes became a flaming fireball the moment he saw who was at the house. Talking on the porch with Shigure was none other then Kureno. He puts the bags down and grabs Tohru's arm as she blankly continued walking. Pulling her down behind the large bushes in front of the house, he covers her mouth and whispers 'Shh'. Yuki not noticing Kyo and Tohru duck down walked up to Kureno and Shigure.

"What're you two talking about?" he asks curiously carrying the bags now.

"Ah…nothing Yuki-kun!" Shigure says smiling. Standing up now, he looks at Yuki. "Wasn't Tohru-kun and Kyo with you?" He quickly changes the subject looking around quickly trying to spot one of the two that were with him.

Yuki sighs and then stares at Shigure. "I don't know, they just vanished…probably snuck off to the park, or roof." He quickly lies to their faces after hearing a slight rustling noise in the bushes behind him. Seeing Kureno get to his feet, he catches him glaring at the shrubs that had been rustling a bit.

He walks passed Yuki quickly hearing whispering and then quiet. Looking at Yuki now, he places a questioning expression on his face. Yuki could feel Kureno's staring pushing him down by the shoulders and into the ground. "I'll be telling Akito I saw you Yuki. She'll be very pleased." He turns his back on both Shigure and Yuki and walks passed the once rustling bushes. Kneeling behind the one that was originally moving, he finds nothing there. Sighing, he stands back up and heads back to the Main House on the 'inside'.

Shigure hurries inside at the sound of the phone and picks it up quickly, listening attentively. "Yes, yes, my dear Akito, everything is going as you wanted." He pauses and smiles obviously adoring what she was saying. "Yes I know, only a few more months. Yes it is a very dark room." Yuki came in quietly and began eavesdropping from behind the wall. His head was poked out a little to get a better listen. "Your installing bars into the room later today? Ahh, very intelligent, that you are Akito-san…Will you be at the graduation in three months?" Shigure asks and hears Akito's response. "Oh, okay… Yes I'll make sure I come there later today."

Hearing the door slide open he sees Tohru, holding cat-san in his arms. "You stupid cat….how did you transform now?" he mutters and points to the steps quickly telling Tohru to hurry upstairs.

Shigure peeks out from behind the wall and stares at Yuki. "Yuuuki-kun," hearts seemed to flutter around him as he tried to sound loving. He laughs a little, waving his hand after seeing how Yuki had reacted when he called his name. "Yuki…were you listening to my conversation…?" he asks quietly, pulling Yuki into his workroom. He began to gag at the rancid smell of Shigure's room.

He covers his mouth and eyes as the fumes began to sting his throat and make his eyes water. "How do you sleep in here…?" Yuki says, his voice very muffled since his hands were covering his mouth. He scans the room, his eyes barely open, and sees piles of stuff occupying every single inch of space. "Do you even have a bed?" He questions Shigure who was just laughing slightly. In thought he realizes that the reason he doesn't have a normal sleep pattern is because he can't find a place to sleep. Yuki sighs and looks at Shigure who was frantically spraying air freshener. He pulls his hands from his mouth and takes a deep breath, inhaling the smell and feeling of flowers.

"Answer my question Yuki." He says half demanding, and half lightheartedly.

Yuki sighs and responds honestly, "No." Inside his head he could hear himself laughing hysterically at Shigure. Then seeing Shigure's stern expression he decides to tell him the real truth. "Yes…I was listening." He groans a little then asks in anger, "But why did you ask Akito to come to graduation!" His voice was full of fear, and increasing anger.

Shigure sighs and then sees Tohru and Kyo come in wearing gas masks, as they were expecting they would die without it. He laughs at them playfully, and pulls their masks off. The instant the masks came off Tohru and Kyo gasped for air and their eyes were wide. After taking a deep breath, they notice that they can actually breath now. "What did you say Yuki!" Kyo exclaims, grabbing Yuki by the color of his shirt. He thought he had heard Yuki say 'Ask Akito to come to graduation.' He had heard him wrong though…so…Yuki sighs.

"I asked why Shigure asked Akito to come to graduation in three months." Yuki says softly in annoyance. "Now…let me go you stu-pid-cat." He says separating the syllables at the end.

Growling, Kyo pushes Yuki against the wall. He stomps up to Shigure and glares. "W-What…did Akito say….is…is she coming..?" he asks. For the first time in a while, Tohru and Yuki both saw and heard the expression of fear coming from Kyo. Yuki had remembered hearing Shigure mention something about a dark room, but…could it be that Akito is planning to do something with Kyo.

"Akito-san may come, I'm not sure. I wasn't given a complete answer." He replies sounding completely honest. His arms were halfway up at his sides as he shrugs.

Kyo glares at Shigure quickly, and then spins around and runs passed Tohru and Yuki. Slightly surprised by his actions, Tohru leaves the room and goes after Kyo. She climbs the ladder up to the roof and sits beside him. His knees were pulled up to his chest, and his head was face down on his kneecaps, his arms wrapped around his knees. He hadn't heard her come up their so he stayed the way he was, tears dampening his pants at the kneecap.

Tohru tilts her head, looking sorrowfully towards Kyo. "Kya-…" she stops herself and instead, puts her hand on his back. Rubbing his back gently. "Kyo-kun…" Tohru whispers, moving closer to him, she sits down at his side. "You know Kyo…its…okay if you don't want to tell me what's wrong…but… if you did, I may be able to help," She explains sweetly trying to lean forward to see his eyes from in front of him. Not being able to see his face, she sits back down beside him and sighs. "Kyo…"

"There's nothing you can do…." He whispers to her, his voice kind of muffled, but it wasn't too bad. She could tell he had been trying to hold back his tears ever since he got on to the roof. He lifts his head up from his knees and looks at Tohru, his cheeks damp with tears. "I…I know you want to help. But there's no way…you'd…." he stops. Kyo knew the only thing that would come from her trying to help was pain. So much pain that he would wish for his death. So many things he has done to cause her and himself pain. It was his fault her mother died. It was also his fault, he had now decided, that his mother died. And, it would be his fault if she were to get involved in his problems and in result get hurt. He was so afraid of getting close to her because of these reasons.

Yuki stood staring at Shigure. "Akito has something hanging over Kyo's head doesn't she…" he asks quietly getting a little angry at Shigure. "You don't care if him being forced to leave will upset Miss Honda…." Yuki says sounding almost accusing Shigure of all his decisions.

"Yun-Yun…you're oh so confusing. I mean….you hate Kyo." He says, reminding Yuki of his hatred.

He nods a little agreeing with Shigure. "Yes…I'll hate him until after I die. But…" he pauses, his voice soft as if he were whispering, "I don't hate him enough to see Miss Honda upset."

Shigure claps quietly and walks passed Yuki out of the room, being followed by him. "Yuki, I applaud your nobility… but…it's not my choice in the matter. Now…I do know about the deal Akito has with Kyo, but I was told not to say…" He bows his head to Yuki and then walks out the door, muttering a little. "He is starting to get on my nerves, that Yuki…." He suddenly bumps into someone and lands on his butt in front of his own house. "Eh?" Getting to his feet he smiles and says cheerfully, "Hello Aya-chan!" Hearts looked to be in his eyes.

"Hi! Shii-chan!" He exclaims lifting his arms up happily. "Did you say Yuki? That Yuki?" Ayame asks curiously, and runs passed Shigure and slides open the front door. "Ohhh, Yuuuuuki-kun!" He calls looking around.

Hearing his name called by Ayame's voice he runs upstairs, and goes into his room, locking the door with bolts. He drops on to his bed and loses himself in deep thoughts. He could hear Kyo and Tohru talking on the roof from his bedroom. Yuki sighs softly and puts his hands out, and spreads his legs apart like he was ready to make a snow angel. He began to think about the fear in Kyo's voice when he had asked if Akito was going to be at graduation. Slowly pulling all the pieces together, Yuki knew that it had something to do with him being thrown into that dark, enclosed room where you aren't allowed to see, or be seen by anyone. But…could there be a way for Kyo to prevent it? Was there a possibility that…. another reason for Kyo hating him so much was because….he shakes his head and mutters, "No…it can't be.." Could it be possible, he thought, that Kyo was bent on beating him because it was a part of a deal he had with Akito?

Tohru places her hand on Kyo's shoulder and smiles at him sweetly. "Kyo-kun… I don't like seeing you sad…. So please…be happy," she says gently and removes her hand from his shoulder, slowly getting to her feet. Looking down at him, she extends her hand. "I'll always be there to help you Kyo-kun… So…when you find yourself able to tell me, I'd like to know what's bothering you." She tilts her head and smiles, blushing a little.

He grabs her hand and stands up, looking down at her. He had to be at least a foot taller then her. Well, it looked like he was that tall. "Y-Yeah…" Kyo says slightly stuttering, that same fear returning to his voice. "But…there are some thing's about me that are better left unsaid…" she cuts him off quickly.

"Kyo!" she exclaims almost pleading with him. He looks at her in surprise, his eyes a little wide. For one thing he was a little shocked to hear her shout a little. He smiles a little and nods, agreeing to listen. "Remember…when you turned into your other form… I didn't mind at all, Kyo-kun…" She whispers to him then continues on. "And…whenever you've talked to me I'd listen, and… and…" A tear rolls down her cheek, "And I'm always here to help. I don't care if what you tell me could get me-." Kyo covers her mouth stopping her.

He pulls his hand off her mouth and grabs her arms and pulls her a little closer, "You may not care if you get hurt…. but…." he pauses feeling the urge to tell her everything, "But I do Tohru…. I care…about you…" Kyo finishes, his eyes gentle as he looked into hers. She smiles at him. Quickly he lets go of her arms and spins around, his left hand on his forehead, he waves his right hand. "I didn't mean anything weird by that…I just meant that I don't want you getting hurt. That's all..." His face was almost beat red, from his chin to the very top of his forehead. He places his hands at his waist and stares into the distance, his back still to her.

"Oh..Okay, Kyo…" She says and then walks across the roof progressively so that she doesn't place her foot on a loose shingle. Carefully she climbs down the ladder set on the side of the house for her and Kyo to go up and down almost every day. Her feet finally back on the grass she turns abruptly and bumps into Yuki who was just about to go up the ladder to talk to the two of them.

The pink mist covers them both and a little rat takes Yuki's spot, standing on his clothes. She slumps to the ground, her knees spread in opposite direction, kneecaps touching, and her hands closed in front of her knees. "I'm so, so, so sorry Yuki-kun…" She apologizes, bowing her head many times. Even though she knew she was going to be forgiven, she always felt much better knowing that they would say it's okay, or its no problem.

He waves his little rat hand and says softly, "It's okay Honda-san…" She smiles at him and scooping him up in her hands and stands. Suddenly he finds himself unable to tell Tohru what he believes he's figured out. It had skipped through his mind like a pebble thrown across a lake. "Honda-san…is…Kyo acting different? And…did he tell you why he made you duck with him when he spotted Kureno?" He asks curiously. She stares back at him and slowly gives him her answer.

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**I finally finished Chapter 6…this one took me a couple days since I was trying to type 'Hagaren No Baka' at the same time. So I hope you all enjoy.**

**Thanks:**

**K40Sohma: Thanks again! I hope you continue to read and review. Glad to see that you enjoyed it. That's just wootiful,lol.**

**Tohruismyoneechan: Sorry about making you sad… > '' I do hope you enjoy this story as it goes on. I plan on making it twist a lot…so…well, just continue reading. I can't give away what I have planned, lol. I gotta work on responding to these reviews a little better. **

**Akiro: Um.. First off I hope you enjoyed what you read. And, Akito is in fact a girl. It is revealed in the later volumes of the manga. Akito-san's mother is twisted…lol. Remember, Akito is 'God' in the Zodiac story supposedly. Her mother when she was born, wanted the 'God' to be a male, so she raised her that way. I've read that, but that could be rumor. But, Akito is definitely a girl. I've seen manga pages showing this.**


	7. Curiosity Kills the Rat

**Chapter 7: Curiosity Kills the Rat**

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**Nothing bad happens to Yuki for those of who that may decipher this chapter name differently. The chapter title does have meaning though. So…read and review if you like.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Furuba or any thing that has to do with it, except characters I may make up along the way.**

**_Bold Italics_- thoughts**

_Italics- Flashback

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Tohru tried to place a serious expression on her face but that attempt fails horribly. His eyes were locked on Tohru, seeking her answer. She smiles a little at Yuki, almost looking nervous, and responds, "Kyo-kun…is…very different. His heart is delicate. So, some one had to have done something…" Her voice was quiet as she spoke, she didn't want Kyo to over hear them talking about him. Yuki lightly groans so that Tohru doesn't hear. He walks around in her hands thinking, rubbing behind his little rat ears. "And…when Kyo pulled me down behind the bush, all he said was that there was a conflict with Kureno and he's changed a lot." She answers his other question, which took Yuki by complete surprise.

He stares up at her for a few more moments then hops out of her hands. "You may want to turn…" he pauses then the pink mist engulfs him. She flies against the house, closing her eyes. "Around..." Yuki finishes quietly, grabbing his clothes and changing back into them quickly. "So…Kyo…had a conflict with Kureno?" he sighs in annoyance. "That's not good…" Tohru turns around slowly. When seeing he was clothed again, she faces him completely. She nods slightly and looks around. It was already getting pretty late in the day and she hadn't even began cooking as she had promised when she given the right to stay in the house for free. Tohru runs passed Yuki and into the house.

Mumbling Yuki began to try and think things over. "Conflict with Kureno. What could have happened between Kyo and him? There are so many things happening at once…and… almost none of it is making any sense. Kyo being afraid of Akito coming to graduation, a conflict with Kyo and Kureno, and Shigure and Kureno talking secretively, what's going on these days…" he mutters quietly. Were Shigure and Kureno discussing Kagura's injuries? Did they even care if she was going to live? What could be more important at the time then worrying about her well being? Something about how every has been acting lately was making him think much more then usual. There were things he couldn't quite understand about some of the members of the juunishi, even though he'd basically been around them all his life.

He slams his fist against the side of the house, and then groans in a little pain. Kyo jumps down and looks at Yuki, seeming pretty annoyed. "Look here you stupid cat, I'm not in the mood for your moaning, so get out of my face." He shot quickly at the moment they made eye contact.

Kyo scowls at Yuki and shoves his way passed him and into the house quickly. He stops in the kitchen and sees Tohru cooking. It was actually nearing five o'clock so dinner was due to be complete by around six. He smiles and walks into the kitchen. "Thanks for…." He stops himself; his voice was soft enough so that Tohru couldn't hear him. Then, he decides to speak up. "Tohru…" he calls softly. She turns around and smiles, opening her mouth to greet him. He just stops her by continuing on, "Th-Thank you…for…talking to me…listening to me…on the roof not too long ago."

She tilts her head and says sweetly, "Oh, it was nothing, honest, Kyo-kun!" Her face was a little red from blushing. "I just…don't like to see you upset." Tohru adds softly, turning back to the stove and rice cooker. She had rice and dumplings cooking slowly on low, since she didn't want to risk burning anything. On the stove were a few fish that were in the package, cooking on a higher temperature then the dumplings. Placing the rice in a bowl she distributes it into four plates evenly, and covers them waiting for the dumplings and fish to finish.

"Um…to…say thanks a little better," Kyo began shyly, "I'll help you get the dinner finished. With the hot stuff, so you don't have to worry about getting burned or anything…" he adds quickly, getting extremely red in the face.

Tohru stares at Kyo, and smiles gently. "Oh no Kyo-kun, you couldn't…I mean…. you could…but…" she was confusing herself as well as Kyo who seemed to be so confused it pissed him off. He rubs his forehead, then brings his hair back, his bangs pulled up a little. Dropping his arms back to his sides, his hair drops down a little, only it was a little messy.

He sighs and walks to the threshold of the kitchen, and takes a glance at Tohru. "If you need help though, you can come get me. I'll be in my room…" he says softly. Seeing her nod he begins his way up the steps, ignoring the fact that he could hear Yuki attempting to sneak up behind him. As they reach the top of the steps Kyo spins around and looks at Yuki angrily. "What d'ya want pretty boy!" He exclaims.

Ignoring Kyo's rude comments he begins to speak, "Kyo…I need to talk to you…" Was all he said as he walked passed him and into his room.

"What! Do you expect me to follow you! Trust you!" He whispers somewhat loudly under his breath. "I…. I can't trust the rat.." He thought, and then followed Yuki anyways. Entering his room, he closes it behind him and stares at Yuki standing in front of him. "What is it Yuki!" Kyo questions full of aggravation.

Stepping closer a little, Yuki looks at Kyo, searching his eyes for fear. Spotting something that looked like desperation he grins slightly. He is questioned about his smile by Kyo and merely shakes his head. "Kyo… why are you so worried about Akito coming?" He found himself asking this question without the slightest worry.

Kyo stares at Yuki with an almost shocked expression. 'There it was,' Yuki thought to himself, 'that fearful look in his eyes.' He had to know what caused Kyo to get like this. Even if he had to pry at Kyo's brain constantly. "I'm not worried…about Akito coming, you damn rat…" He growls at Yuki, sounding half afraid and half confident. "I'LL BEAT YOU YUKI! And then…" he pauses, he felt like tears were about to swell up, "I'll never have to think about worrying again…" Kyo says, swallowing a little, feeling a small lump in his throat.

His curiosity was getting the better of him now. At this moment, Yuki was almost positive he knew what was going on. Then it shattered with Kyo's next statement. "You think you are so smart! Just because your zodiac depicts you that way! But you're not…your not!" He exclaims desperately as if he were gasping for air. "Akito is holding nothing against me! She just hates my guts! Why would I even think about entrusting anything within her words!" Everything he was saying was full of holes. He couldn't let Yuki know that he'd be locked up like he once was, if he doesn't beat him in a fair fight. Kyo knew that even Yuki wouldn't want him to be locked away, and then he'd probably let him win. He had to prove to Akito…. he had to prove to himself…and to everyone, even Tohru, especially Tohru…. that the cat can prevail over the rat, no matter what.

"Okay then Kyo…what was the reason for you ducking behind the bush when you saw Kureno. You telling me your afraid of him?" He asks inquisitively.

He grins looking at Yuki and turns around, grabbing a tight hold of the doorknob. Laughing now, Kyo replies sounding agitated, "I'd never be afraid of him. I'm just pissed off at the things he did to a few people I know. And…I'd rather not see Tohru hurt by him too…" He had answered Yuki trying not to lose his cool too quickly.

The door gently opens with Kyo's hand still clenching it. Tohru had entered the room and saw Yuki and Kyo. "I thought I'd find the two of you in here." She says to them smiling happily. "Um…Kyo-kun…if you still want to…can you…" Tohru asks not even being able to word what she was trying to ask correctly.

Kyo smiles a little and places his hand on top of her head, turning her around. "Yeah, yeah, let's go." He says pretending to groan. She panics a little thinking she is bothering Kyo. "Stop getting like that." His hand was removed from her head as they approached the steps. He taps her on the head with his fist playfully as he always does and they go down the stairs carefully and enter the kitchen. The plates were already set with food, but it must have been too hot, or too many for her to carry. Grabbing two burning hot plates he sets them down on the table, then gets the other two and does the same. Each plate was covered with a mini mountain of deliciously cooked gyouza, rice, and fish. All seasoned perfectly by Tohru.

Shigure sat at the head of the table. Kyo was seated across from Shigure with Tohru to his left and Yuki to his right. They all ate the food normally, with the exception of Shigure who ate as if the food would disappear if he were to stop and drink for a second. Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo eat normally, though they were starving from not eating the night before and all day earlier.

"What're you looking at!" Kyo questions angrily, clapping his chopsticks together, pointing in Yuki's direction. "Do you have a problem with how I eat or something rat boy!" He exclaims getting extremely pissed off. Clearly all the questions Yuki had asked him were getting into affect now. He gets up from the chair and runs outside and onto the roof.

"Kyo…. kun…" Tohru whispers, as she stops eating for a second. Beginning to feed herself again she finishes and cleans off her plate in the sink. Then, grabbing Kyo's plate she goes outside, and climbs up the ladder carefully, holding the plate out to the side, using one hand to work her way up. "Kyo…." She calls softly, as it got a little chilly; she sets the plate on a flat part of the roof, and pulls herself up. Looking around she sees and hears Kyo talking to himself.

His attention was no longer set on the setting sun, but the shingles on the roof in front of him. He stares at them and continues whispering to himself. "I'll…beat him right…. For once, I'll get lucky and show everyone that I deserve to be a part of the zodiac and be free." He mumbles quietly, not hearing Tohru crawling towards him with the plate of food. "That damn Yuki…is just full of questions." Kyo continues on, Tohru now behind him and listening. "He…knows exactly what's going on doesn't he? He knows that if I don't beat him…I'll be locked away forever by Akito doesn't he?" He continued to question himself and Yuki's possible thoughts. Tohru's eyes grew wide hearing this.

She didn't want Kyo to leave. Once, not long ago, she remembered him telling her that he wanted to be by her side, to help her when she needed support. To be there for her.

_**I love him. Everything about him makes me smile. His likes and dislikes. The positive things and the negative things. All of this makes him more unique. He was the one who I thought I could relate to the most. Even though every member of the juunishi is different, he is something different. I had always loved the cat from the story. I thought I understood his feelings. Then when I met him, I couldn't help but want to get to know him better. Who is he? How does he act? What are his hobbies? Why he was so crazed about distancing himself from everyone? This had to be the reason. He was afraid that he would never beat Yuki, and if he had someone he was too close to, he would feel even worse about being locked away. About breaking any promises he may have made.**_

Crawling away, she leaves the food there and climbs down the ladder quickly. She ran into the forest, the black sky befalling the entire area. Stopping in the area where her tent used to rest she sat by the lake, tears dripping from her eyes. "Why…do the bad things happen…to the ones I love?" she whispers to herself. Pulling out a little wallet, she flips it open revealing a picture of her mother. "Mom…why? How come everything has been going wrong since the day you got into that accident?" Tears dripped onto the picture, the drips of it running down the plastic that protected the picture.

Kyo gets to his feet and his foot taps the plate gently. He looks down and sees it. His eyes grew wide. "N-no…Pl-Please…don't let…. don't let that mean …what I think it means…. T-Tohru…" He whispers. His voice was shaky, the words not coming out as a complete sentence. "She…. heard me..." Kyo continues on, making himself worry, and become frightened. He ran and jumped off the roof, landing hard on his feet. Jumping off from that position, he went running.

Seeing him from inside the house, Yuki walks out and follows Kyo. He made sure he wasn't noticed and kept himself a little farther behind so that it looked a little more natural. Like he was out for a walk, or jog. He notices that Kyo had stopped in the area Tohru's tent was once located. He'd only seen this spot once and that was a while ago. Then he saw Tohru, sitting sorrowfully near the lake.

Walking up to her slowly, Kyo grabs her by the shoulders and lifts her up, turning her around gradually. He saw tears soaking her cheek. Unhappiness was written all over her face. It was like he was looking at a person who would never be happy again, and it made him feel a little depressed, especially since that person at the moment, was Tohru.

"Tohru…" he says softly, staring into her eyes, receiving her gentle, sorrowful gaze in return. "You…heard me…didn't you? About… what Akito is going to do …to me…" Hearing this Yuki's heart rose. It's not like he wanted him to be locked away, (as said before) but that he had pieced everything together correctly. "Please…. don't let that make you sad." He whispers to her. "I don't know what I'd do if I knew I was the reason you never looked cheerful again." Kyo smiles at her as he says this.

A gentle smile crosses her face slowly. "Bu…But…Kyo-kun, I don't want you to leave. You can't." She says softly, then her voice gets a little louder, "Your not allowed to!" Tohru cries out desperately. He looks at her with just as soft of a gaze as she had given him just a few seconds ago.

Grabbing her hands, he squeezes them gently. Kyo smiles a little hearing the last sentence she spoke. "I'm not allowed to? So…I wont get freedom from your constant cheerfulness either?" He says joking around a little. "Tohru…. There's some stuff I have to tell you…when…you don't like me as much."

Her eyes seemed to be shadowed, as they got black, making her look panicky. "Li-Like? Um…no Kyo…not … I don't …maybe…I…" she stuttered continuously not finding the words she wanted to use. He places his hand on top of her head just as he had earlier. "Eh…" She lets out a soft gasp.

Kyo smiles and bops her on the head again making her rub her head. Yuki's eyes were peering out from behind a tree. A smile was again gently creeping across her face. "K-Kyo…." She mutters softly and then carefully continues, " I'll …help you stay… free." His eyes grew a little wide as he listened to her. He couldn't believe how much she wouldn't be able to live if he were gone. Kyo's hands were still holding her's gently. Her grip on his hands grew tighter as she leaned forward, her eyes tight shut as she tells him desperately, "Kyo! I…. I can't live without you!" Tohru drops to her knees after yelling this, and cries over and over again, hands covering her face to stop the tears from going any farther.

He looks down at her, his eyes much wider then before. He almost couldn't believe his ears. **_Did she really just say that?_** Kyo was caught in miles of disbelief. All he could do was smile softly and kneels down to look at her. Placing his index under her chin, she removes her hands. He lifts her head up with his finger a little to make eye contact with her. "Tohru… that means a lot to me…really." He whispers to her softly.

Yuki was standing in shock behind the tree. He looks back around the tree to see Kyo kneeling down talking to Tohru. The words were recollecting themselves in his head. _"Kyo! I**…. **I can't live without you!"_ Her voice echoed in his head. For a fact now, he knew that she loved Kyo, and not him. Not him. Not him. He glances at them again. Yuki could see them, Tohru had her eyes closed. His lips were pressed against her forehead. Rat-san's eyes got wide seeing them. He ran back to Shigure's home quickly.

Kyo lays her down grabs a large slab of bark and drags Tohru on top of it. She had fainted the moment Kyo's lips touched her forehead. It wasn't from him kissing her though; she was just too overwhelmed at the moment that she probably would've fainted even if he hadn't come to find her. He ties a vine in a hole in the top of the bark, and drags her along as he heads back to Shigure's house, unaware that Yuki had watched and heard everything.

Stopping at the front of the house, he saw none other then Yuki sitting at his spot on the roof. He grins a little, seeming happy that Yuki seemed depressed somehow. Getting Tohru into the house via slab of bark and manages to gradually drag her up the steps without getting her hurt.

She started to moan a little as she woke up. She felt as though she was floating since her feet weren't really slamming against the steps as she was brought upstairs. "K…Kyo…" Tohru whispers under her breath. His hands were under her arms and he pulls walking backwards up the steps carefully. He stops at the top of the steps and stands Tohru up and looks at her.

"Your awake?" He says sounding a little surprised. "Well…I think you should get to bed, right?" Kyo asks not seeming too sure about his own suggestion.

Her faces beams gently at him then she runs into her room and changes into her pajamas, and lies on her bed, her arms outstretched above her head. She felt so much better now. Having the feeling of permission to help Kyo made her so much happier at this moment.

Kyo went to bed not much longer after her.

Yuki stayed on the roof, gazing across the trees in the forest. "I shouldn't have followed them…" was all he mumbled before falling backwards, and sleeping on the roof. A blanket was over him and that was it.

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Meanwhile at the Main Sohma house Akito was being informed of how things had went a day or so earlier. Kureno told her all about his little scuffle with Kyo which didn't make her the least bit happy. "You allow me to be right, my dear Kureno." She says gently, getting to her feet from the chair that she was somehow managing to stay up in.

Kureno stares at Akito. "I did get it through the minds of Haru and Rin. What I said seems to be imbedded deep in their heads." He informs Akito of their current progress. "You will be the only woman in our lives Akito… no other woman can replace you. You…my dear Akito…. are our God. We follow and should abide by your rules." He says almost praising everything about Akito.

"We'll lock the beast away that attacked you. Then…everything will be the way it was when all of us were younger. My family will serve under me." Akito says gently, laughing quietly under her breath.

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**I finally finished Chapter 7 after staying up until 4 in the morning. Hope you all enjoyed.**

**Thanks/Comments To:**

**K40Sohma: Thanks for the review, person who I don't know (jk). Hope you continue to enjoy the story. And get some sleep!**

**Chan: I find myself getting questions in reviews, but it doesn't bother me much. Hope you enjoyed the chapter(s) though. Kyo, according to the later volumes of the manga, ran into the middle of the road in his cat form as Kyoko was driving. She saw and noticed it was him, and swerved out of the way to avoid hitting him. In result she got into the accident that ended up killing her. Tohru doesn't know this though. (Kyoko knew Kyo when he was younger. So she knew about him and stuff…so I've learned)**


	8. Shadows of Pain, Shaded Heart

**Chapter 8: Shadows' of Pain; Shaded Heart**

The next day had soon got under way. Each of them got dressed into their spring school uniforms. They head out the front door, being seen off by Shigure who was busy saying good-bye to Tohru in every way possible. This was the first time in a while that they left together to go to school. Normally it was Kyo leaving before everyone else and getting to school alone, and Tohru and Yuki went together. Everything was quiet though. Kyo had no idea that Yuki had been watching and listening in the night before. So he had nothing to be angry about as of yet. Tohru had no knowledge of Kyo kissing her forehead, even though he remembered it perfectly, and his face got red whenever his eyes met her's.

Hanajima and Uotani caught up to them and walk with them towards the school. "So Orangey is coming with us today?" Uo-chan says punching Kyo in the arm. He yelled at her and they got into a fierce argument that eventually cooled down at the front door of the school.

They reached their class and sat in the same seats as always. Kyo of course sat at the desk nearest to the window. This time however, Tohru was on the other side of the room, Yuki two seats in front of her. Hana and Uo sat on either side of Tohru talking whenever they got the chance. She kept trying to listen to Mayu, their teacher, and pay attention to her friends at the same time.

Kyo was gazing out the window, paying almost completely no attention to Mayu. His mind was racing with one memory over and over again.

He ran into the middle of the road in his cat form, a car coming towards him. He was so upset that he wished he would just die or be killed by someone or something. The car suddenly swerved, the woman in the driver's seat calling to him to move. He shook his head and watched the car crash. Knowing exactly who it was he went into shock and ran in fear, into the forest. Transforming back into his human state, he found his clothes and changed, sitting against a tree. He went back to the car and spoke with the woman. "Kyo…please…take care of my daughter." That's what it sounded like she said to him. He left and hid in the forest again in fright. "I…I have to find her daughter…and do as she asked of me." His voice echoes in the flashback.

He finally remembered that day. It was horrible that he had actually met the girl he was supposed to take care of. How could he ever gain the courage to tell her the things he's kept locked away? Just as Yuki had his own things he wanted to keep jarred up until he found the correct time. He knew his confession was much worse then Yuki's. For a fact, Kyo knew that Yuki didn't have to worry about telling the girl he cared for, and loved so much, that it was his fault her mother died. His hand was on his right cheek, as he kept his head facing towards the window. Finally snapping out of the trance the class had managed to end without him being asked a single question. "What was going on today? Was she doing a review or something?" He thought to himself as he got up from his desk and left the room last so that he, Tohru, Yuki, Uo, and Hana left together. They were heading toward the gym at a very slow pace, all talking or yelling at each other. Tohru was shot many glares from the members of the 'Prince Yuki Fan club'.

Getting there they all changed into their gym outfits and were told to run for their upcoming endurance test at the end of the year. Kyo and Yuki were passing this class with ease. The only thing Yuki couldn't do was run all the time, as he had breathing problems ever since he was young. Though, the only times he doesn't run is when it is very cold outside.

The class ended a little longer then an hour later. They changed back into their school uniforms and left the gym area and went towards their next classes. The day went along quickly, though there were times where it felt as if it would never end. It was getting extremely dark out and it was just a little past three o'clock in the day.

Kyo's eyes rose to look at the sky. Lightning was streaking every which way. Tohru and Uotani were talking alone as Hanajima hurried back to her house to see if everything was okay. She had a bad feeling run through her body since the waves seemed to be picking up a little something that made her stressed out.

Suddenly, an umbrella pops open over Kyo's head. "Here you go Kyo-kun!" She says happily, a strawberry decorated umbrella open above her. Yuki's was open the moment he heard thunder. He had left quickly and rushed to take care of his garden near Shigure's house that he considered to be his 'secret base'.

The four of them, which had suddenly included Momiji, walked into a bookstore nearby since it was about to rain. And since Kyo hated rain, they all decided to wait until it let up a little. The monsoon like rains kept coming down hard. Uo was continuously making fun of Kyo calling his hatred of rain a phobia. "What would it be called Kyon?" He twitched hearing what she had called him. "Rain-o-phobia? Retardaphobia?" She rubs the side of her head, "Would that be fear of retards, or a fear of retarded things…" Uo pretended to question herself, mocking Kyo greatly.

He spun around and started yelling at Uo angrily. "WATCH IT YOU DAMN YANKEE THUG!" Kyo exclaims. The sound of rain was pissing him off, and on top of that, Uo was taunting and making fun of him. Tohru and Momiji were talking and laughing politely about work and how things were going.

Cupping his hand to the side of his face, Momiji whispers to Tohru, "Kureno…has been reporting to Akito-san a lot… I think it may be about Kyo assaulting him…" He was informing her of things that should have been told to the members of the juunishi. Kyo eventually settled down and sat at a table, his arms crossed on the table top, his head buried down in them.

They waited almost two hours for the rain to let up. But setting foot outside right after it stopped, proved to be a horrible mistake. Standing in front of the four of them was Akito and Kureno. The sunlight was dripping out from behind the dark, musty clouds. Kyo's eyes grew wide in horror. If Kureno was accompanying her, she had to have known about how Kyo had attacked him.

Tohru was equally as scared as Kyo. Now that she knew about the deal they had made, the fact that Akito could put it in void made her afraid. The cold, spine tightening smile that Akito had on her face was enough to scar you for life. It was like she planned on making you her permanent slave until you kissed her feet and killed yourself deciding that you were no longer worthy.

Spotting Haru coming down the street, looking lifeless, Kyo looks back and forth from Kureno, to Akito, to Haru and back to Akito again. How could she be making such orders? She was having other's force emotionless thoughts into people's brains. Her current mind puppet was Kureno.

Uotani stared at Kureno, who was practically being clung to by Akito who was having a hard time standing. "My very ugly monster stands before me, does he not?" She says pulling herself away from Kureno slowly. Everyone was standing completely still except for Akito who was making her way carefully, staggering a little, towards Kyo.

He stood somewhat alone even though Momiji, Tohru, and Uotani where with him. There was a good ten feet between them all, and he was in front of them. Akito stood lightly at Kyo's feet. She was just a few inches away from Kyo. Grinning knowingly, Akito places her fingertip against his forehead. "You don't deserve to live and you know it Kyo…Monsters should always be inside their cages." Her nail dug into his skin, drawing a trickle of blood. It slid down his forehead and onto his nose. She drops her hands and smiles. "I'll always visit you. You're one of my children Kyo…. one of my very ugly, hated children." Her voice was filled with pure hatred as she spoke to him. It was as if she was talking to dirt. She probably treated rocks better then him.

Tohru couldn't stand the things Akito was saying to him. **If she really wanted him to love her, shouldn't she treat him nicely?** She thought to herself. **He's not a monster Akito-san….** Tohru found herself mentally objecting to every word that came out of Akito's mouth. Anything negative that she said about Akito made her feel a burning flame of hatred consuming her heart. It hurt to feel this way. She wasn't used to hating someone. She had never hated anyone before, she was so used to being nice to people that made fun of her, or spoke badly to her, that it made her so pure and innocent.

Akito takes a glance at Tohru, her eyes narrow returning the hatred she could sense burning in her. Pointing a shaky finger at Tohru she laughs excessively. "You ugly woman! Not even you could replace me! Not even you will ever be able to save this worthless piece of crap!" She shouts loudly, though the passing people had not even paid the least bit of attention. "You must be a monster yourself…." Her voice trails off, as if she were getting ready to continue eagerly. And she did just that. "Are you as worthless as Kyo over there." Akito took a gentle step towards Tohru. Kyo's body was almost frozen. He couldn't find a way to have himself move and stop Akito from even going near Tohru. "Honda…. You are the devil and I am the God. You say you can help Kyo. You want to help Kyo…." She pauses and her eyes begin to feel like a blazing inferno. "MONSTERS- ONLY- HELP- MONSTERS!" Akito roared and ruthlessly swiped her open hand at Tohru.

She hits the ground being slapped by Akito. Large, red marks covered the left side of her face. Pain struck throughout her body feeling the after shock of Akito's attack. Kyo blinked and grabbed her by the arm. His eyes burning on Akito. "DON'T HIT HER YOU DAMN GENDER BENDER!" He exclaims. Then, suddenly, he feels a rough blow to the back of his neck and hits the ground beside Tohru. He groans in pain, and rubs his neck, turning over onto his back, seeing Tohru beside him.

Momiji ran home in fear. It wasn't like he didn't want to help out, but he was too afraid to do anything. At his house he cried in his room, seeing the vision of Tohru and Kyo getting hurt.

The only one left to aid them was Uotani. She knelt down behind them and then lifts her head up to glare at Akito. "How dare you hit my friends you…." She couldn't find the correct choice of words. It was as if her voice box had been temporarily put out of order. She stayed on her knees looking at Tohru who seemed to be in great pain. The scratches from Akito's nails had blood oozing out from nowhere.

Kyo suddenly sat up and got to his feet. "You damn…. Bas-tich!" He exclaims making up his own word to call Akito. "How dare you hit her…she hasn't done anything to you!" He continued to shout at her, stumbling a little closer.

"Oh…but she has done things to me. She's stolen my family from me. My loyal family!" She cries out in annoyance, and then glances back at Kyo. "A monster like you could never know what a family is like, right?" Akito began to taunt him now, just as Uo had done earlier. This time it wasn't as jokes or to pass time.

Tohru sat up and staggered to her feet with the help of Uo. "Kyo knows exactly what a family is, Akito-san. He's apart of one! With me, Yuki, and Shigure." At the sound of her voice, Kyo had turned around and listened. A small smile came to his face as he heard what she had to say.

Akito glared at Tohru mysteriously. She was again interfering with her business. "You little wench…. Believing that you…a mere woman…. can keep them all to yourself."

Looking at her in anger, Kyo realized that he had to speak up. How could he just stay quiet and let Tohru verbally shoot down all of Akito's words alone? He stepped right in front of Akito and looked down at her. "Just get away from here Akito…." He says quietly, in a slight fear of being humiliated in front of everyone.

Seeming slightly taken aback, Akito grits her teeth in annoyance. "Since when does the monster order the God around…. I don't have much longer to live Kyo…and you expect that everyone will spend their time with that little bitch and not me!"

Kyo seemed to be fuming out steams from a boiling fire in his head. "Don't….call her that…"

Glaring at Akito, Uo runs at her and punches Akito in the face. She falls numbly to the ground in front of Kureno. "How dare you! You don't even know Tohru!" She stood over Akito, staring down at her angrily. "I don't care who the hell you are! You shouldn't even talk to Orangey that way!" Uotani exclaims, kicking Akito's leg fiercely.

Kureno stares at her, pulling her away from Akito. His eyes were locked on her's; tears seemed to be swelling up in her eyes. "Stop this… Uo…you don't understand this. You don't understand anything that is going on." He says softly trying to explain things, though he was not letting her know much. "Just go home…. before…. before something bad happens." Hearing this, Uotani pulled away from him and ran quickly away from all of them. The slight worry in Kureno's expression had made Kyo flinch a little. He hadn't seen that face for a while. He actually looked like he cared about what was going on for a moment. Akito was getting to her feet with the help of Kureno by now.

Standing side-by-side, Tohru and Kyo stared in slight worry in the direction of Akito. The sky was getting extremely dark again, and rain began to drip down, which had annoyed Kyo. He tried to keep as calm as possible though so that he doesn't yell at anyone that didn't have to be shouted at.

Akito opened her mouth to speak, and the whole area she and Kureno stood in was covered with a thick, gray shadow. The girl who attacked her made her overly irritated. Since she didn't know the woman's name she would only be able to find her –if needed- by scanning the faces in the crowd. Words slowly slipped out of Akito's mouth like liquid into a cup.

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**This chapter….I did pretty quickly. It may be one of the shortest chapters I've typed in the recent days.**

**Special Thanks to:**

**YoukaiOnigiri: That was a interesting review, lol. Thanks for enjoying the story so far. I hope you like this chapter. It may be a little bit of what you wanted.**

**Tohruismyoneechan: I think I came up with the new chapter quicker then people expected. Well…here it is. Thank you for your kind reviews.**

**K40Sohma: This chapter is shorter then the others. (Aren't u happy? Lol) Well… I'm hoping it'll be as good as the chapters before it. Is this soon enough for you? Lol. Glad to here your enjoying the story.**

**I will not be adding a chapter for two days as I am going on vacation to Universal Studios. Once I get back you can expect chapter 9! Promise!**


	9. The Pain Her Words Brought

**Chapter 9: The Pain Her Words Brought**

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own Furuba or any of its characters.

**I'm back. And thanks for the support that I received in the reviews. I'm glad no one was too upset with me going on a short vacation, which I may add, made my writing arm sore. Nonetheless, this is typing, so, there will be chapters. So, I'm sorry for the wait…not that it was too long, heh… Well, without further ado…I present you with chapter 9 of Aikyou.

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She cleared her throat slowly, and the words poured out of her mouth, "You protect her…Kyo…as if she actually understands your pain." Akito grinned, and gritted her teeth a little. "She understands nothing. Only I do…I understand how you feel, therefore I will protect you, the monster that you are, by locking you away."

Her words frightened Tohru. She didn't enjoy being reminded that Kyo would be imprisoned if he were to not beat Yuki. And, maybe she didn't understand the things Kyo had gone through. But, she'd like to try to understand, everything and anything that he is or were to tell him. There wasn't anything she'd want to know more then what made him sad, or happy, or aggravated. "Those things," she thought, "those things I'd love to be aware of." A gentle smile crossed her face as she looked at Akito. A surge of appreciation went through her body. "Akito-san… I have great admiration for… your need to protect your family. But… I understand some of the things Kyo-kun's gone through…" her voice was very quiet as she said this. The streets had been cleared, as well as the sidewalks, do to the thunderstorm that was occurring above them. Kyo, Akito, and Kureno could hear her despite the loud rumbles of thunder as lightning crashed throughout the sky.

Kyo opened his mouth to object on the matter so that Tohru wouldn't speak any more. He didn't want her to end up endangering her own safety any more then she already had. Then a mere, devious grin floated upon Akito's face as he listened to Tohru's strange type of pleading statement. "So…you think you understand everything you ugly woman…" Laughing gently as she had an almost unnoticeable sore throat. "Well… if you do…then take off his beads. Let me see how you react to that grotesque form that is Kyo's true state!" She yells forcefully at Tohru. Akito taunts once more, "Do you enjoy the smell of rotting corpses? Is that how you understand that warped form?" It was as if she was egging Tohru on; wanting to see how her body language responded, or her facial expression changed.

Looking at Kyo with a quiet, soft expression, Tohru reaches for his Juzu beads. He stares at her and lets her hand rest upon his wrist. Kyo couldn't believe that Akito had actually gotten through to Tohru. How could she actually trust, or take to heart, anything Akito spoke? Or was it all on a impulse. Maybe it was the fact that she wanted to prove the things Akito said about him wrong. Was she that willing to reveal all of this to everyone? To show any one that may leave their homes or shops, his vengeful spirit's true form. He couldn't believe it, her fingers were under the beads so that the back of her fingers were touching the usually covered skin on his wrist. Tugging gently, she looks at Akito for a moment who she noticed had nodded. She pulls it off and falls backward from tugging it so hard.

Just moments after Kyo's body shifted and transformed him into the monstrous like form that his body assumed whenever he was without his Juzu beads. Tohru stared at him sadly. She felt bad about doing this. She felt selfish beyond compare. Even in the form he was in now, Kyo stood still quietly. The rain continued to beat down on him and the others but he tried to annoy it. Even if he was in his vengeful spirit's true state, he felt as though he could bare it for now. Just for the time being, he could pretend it wasn't raining.

Tohru struggled to get to her feet smelling the scent of exactly what Akito had described. Though she thought it smelt more like rotten food, or vomit. Either way, she didn't seem to mind it. She staggers towards him, spotting out of the corner of her eye Akito who had her arm up so that the sleeve of her kimono would cover her nose. Kureno seemed to be ignoring the horrible smell that Kyo's body gave off.

She dropped to her knees beside Kyo who was completely aggravated. It was becoming harder and harder for him to completely act as though there wasn't water falling from the sky. He growls a little seeing Tohru. Though he wasn't exactly growling at her, it was just a feeling he had in him that told him to do so. Tohru flings her arms around his front arm quickly and rests her head against it.

Akito watched this in disbelief. "And here…I thought if I got too close to that monstrous form, I'd die from lack of air. But…you seem to prove me wrong." Then a grin falls upon her face gently. "Or maybe the stench hasn't completely gotten to you yet." A quiet laughter came from her mouth, Kureno still stood at her side, completely quiet.

Suddenly, Kyo had changed back to his human form. His pants were a little ripped at the very bottom, and his shirt was torn to shreds at his feet. Tohru was still clinging to his arm, her eyes closed. He smiles at her and as if she could feel him looking at her, she opens her eyes and returns his smile. The expression on Tohru's face showed that she could still smell the vomit-like stench that state of him gave off. Pulling away from her, now standing up straight, Tohru still on her knees, feeling the pain return from when Akito hit her. It was just a stinging sensation; she tried to act strong, and not show an expression that'd give away what she considered as looking 'weak' in front of Akito, Kyo, and Kureno.

"You…just can't stand the fact can you…" Kyo says quietly, looking down at the ground. They all stare at him, seeming practically confounded. Lifting his head up carefully, he gently meets eyes with Akito. "YOU HATE THE FACT THAT SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS ME!" His anger had erupted finally. All the irritation from the rain and the anger from Akito's constant blabbering. Everything had just exploded from his mouth all at once. "YOU WANT MY LIFE TO BE A LIVING HELL DON'T YOU!" Kyo exclaims stomping his foot into a puddle, leaning forward as he yells at them. "WELL IT'S…" Akito who had gone up to him leaving them only a half a foot between them cuts him off.

"Your pathetic life is supposed to be hell… Haven't you realized…that you will never be able to get yourself into the Zodiac. And when it becomes finalized…. you will be locked away like the last monster. Your little Shishou's grandfather," Akito stops slowly, leaving Kyo stunned for a moment.

He knew that by opening his mouth he'd only make things worse then they already are. Would that actually happen? Was he going to be locked away forever when he learns that he actually can't beat Yuki? There wasn't any other way, and that was that. He had drawn a blank on ideas, and he couldn't strike up another deal only for it to corner him in a dark and empty room.

Tears were dripping down Tohru's cheeks, though that action was as familiar as ever. Stumbling to her feet, her left cheek feeling numb, she stands between Akito and Kyo quickly, bumping her back a little. They were all a little shocked. Especially since she was just recently on the ground. Her face was still damp with tears even though new layers of them kept streaming down her face. "Akito-s… s…san…" she stutters, breathing heavily. Something was telling Kyo that everything Akito had said was now bothering her greatly. "Pl…Please…no more…Just…leave Kyo-kun alone…" her voice was quiet now, but she continued to take heavy breathes and stutter gently.

Kyo looks at the back of Tohru's head since that was all he was able to see at the moment. He looks around frantically, he had forgot to check that no one saw him when he transformed into the warped form and back to himself. There was a little kid standing, peeking out from an alley. No doubt he had seen everything that had gone on. The little boy looked frightened as Kyo's eyes captured him. He watched him stumble and fall down, then stayed as still as a statue when noticing Kyo move a little. His hand clenches around Tohru's and he runs towards the kid, pulling Tohru along.

Watching them run off, Akito grins and turns to look at Kureno. "He's getting too close to Honda Tohru." She says quietly to Kureno, and then walks passed him cautiously like she was unable to keep her complete balance. Her hand was sliding across the walls that she passed, as if she were using them to keep herself upright. Though she was slanted toward the wall a little so that she was able to reach.

Running in her direction quickly, Kureno stops in front of her, Akito bumping into him. "Akito…. would you like me to change their minds like I did with Isuzu and Hatsuharu?" He asks curiously, seeming quiet unsure of what she was implying when she spoke as she walked away from him. Spotting her gentle nod, he walks with her back toward the Main House.

Meanwhile, Kyo was looking down at the little boy. "You…" he began, sounding a little angered, "You saw didn't you?" As he had asked this, his voice became calmer, as if he had nothing to worry about. The boy nods almost unnoticeably. Kneeling down slowly, he grins at the kid. "Don't tell anyone, okay." He tells the boy, waiting for a verbal response.

"Uh…huh…" the kid agrees quietly.

Tohru stood beside Kyo, who was still on his knees. Staring at the boy, he blinks then stands, looking down at him again. "What's your name kid?" He asks sounding fairly curious about this. Clearly he wanted to know the name of yet another person who knew about the family curse. Usually those people have their memory wiped.

His lip quivered as he looked back up at Kyo. Staggering to his feet he keeps eye contact. "My name is…Katsuro…" He replies shyly looking at the ground and rubbing his foot back and forth in a circle.

Tohru smiles at him, becoming a little happier then before. Although, the things that Akito had said were still casually floating around her mind. She felt as though she could see Kyo locked up in a dark room that was very small, had bars at the windows, and had water dripping down from cracks in the ceiling. Her minds eye showed her all this and Akito coming in and out every day, harassing Kyo physically and mentally. Such horrible things Tohru could see her saying. How many times would she beat him for being what he was? It was all horrible thoughts and it continuously brought her pain. Even if what she had said to him didn't bother him too much. The fact that he was able to withstand such terrible things made Tohru even sadder by the second.

Smiling at the little boy, Kyo nods basically saying that he understood what he said. "So…Katsuro…were you frightened when I transformed?" He asks out of pure wonder. The kid nods shyly, looking around as if he thought Kyo was going to hurt him. Tapping him on the shoulder softly, he turns around and walks away from the boy. "Don't tell anyone," was all Kyo spoke as he walked off, his hands shoved in his pockets.

Right before she left, Tohru kneeled down to talk to the little boy and told him that some members of the Sohma family are cursed so that they transform into the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. After telling him this she got up and ran to Kyo, catching up beside him. She was so tired that she thought she could sleep in the streets. The time, by now, was around nine o'clock at night. They spent two hours after school in the bookstore to avoid getting caught in the rain, then an hour or two arguing with Akito. And finally, they talked with the boy for about forty minutes. When the fifty-minute walk back to Shigure's house came to an end it was almost ten o'clock.

Kyo and Tohru stood at the door wearily. They both had knocked at the same time without even noticing it. Their looked like they attention was completely focused on something that had nothing to do with the current moments.

The door opened to reveal a worried Yuki. He grabs Tohru's hand and pulls her in, leaving Kyo to trudge in slowly; alone. "Ms.Honda! Are you okay? You were out so long… did something happen?" He asks, sounding very anxious about all of this. Yuki was definitely tired too, because he had sat in a chair waiting for them to arrive home, his eyes were constantly open and didn't come near closing once.

"Ah…" her focus on her thoughts was broken, she looks at Yuki and softly smiles. "Yes, I'm fine…" the red mark on her left cheek said the complete opposite. Kyo was leaning against the wall just ten feet from them. His forehead stained with a few lines of blood, he had no shirt, and his pants were torn at the very bottom. Even his feet, were bare (they got shredded when he transformed). Yuki looked back and forth at them and sighs quietly. There was a large bruise along Kyo's neck. All of this gave Yuki some clues at what happened because, this time, fear was running out of both of their eyes. **_Akito_,** Yuki thought to himself._ **That Akito…she hurt Tohru…a...and Kyo. Not that I care what happens to that stupid cat.**_Moving closer to her, he runs his hand down her cheek gently so that it doesn't hurt. "I'll get you a bandage." He smiles at her sweetly then turns and walks off, his hand dropping down her shoulder from her cheek slowly.

Walking up to her little by little, Kyo smiles as he gets to her side. "Is… your face okay?" He was completely unsure at how he should've phrased that question so he just said the first thing that came to mind.

She smiles at him gently, and nods. "I'm fine, Kyo-kun." Her voice was as quiet as ever. Her body was shaking in slight fear. Kyo steps closer to her and smiles back, looking down to meet her eyes. The breeze from the open windows, tossed his hair around a little making it almost amusing for Tohru to watch. "Kyo… are… I…. should…" she couldn't piece the words that she wanted to say together. Then finally she spits it out. "Kyo…I hope you'll be okay. Is there anything I can do?" She asks. "Do you need anything? A warm rag for your neck, a small bandage for your forehead?" Questions began to pour out of her mouth and slap Kyo across the face.

Grabbing her by the arms her lifts her up a little so that they saw eye to eye with Kyo looking straight ahead. He smiles at her gently. "Tohru… I'm fine. What I need," he laughs quietly, "Is for you to get to bed, and try to forget whatever happened today." His face got closer to her's; he swallows nervously then sets her down. She smiles at him and goes up the stairs as quick as her body allowed her to.

After changing into her pajamas, Tohru crawls onto her bed, and lifts the covers up, pulling them up to her neck. She had been shivering downstairs so she thought she was cold. The shaking kept up, her cheek began to sting again, the things Akito said went running throughout her head as if it was the engine and it was helping to drive her other thoughts away.

Never in her life had she remembered hearing someone say something as bad as Akito had said to Kyo. Especially since what Akito said even began to get Uotani angry. '_You shouldn't even talk to Orangey that way!'_ Her eyes closed, and she dreamed about everything that had happened earlier that day. From it beginning to rain after school ended, to the little boy they spoke to in the alley. Their injuries though, became far worse with every passing moment. This was not nearly close to a dream. It was a pure, hate-filled nightmare that Akito had infected the second they saw her earlier that day.

Kyo sat on the couch, his legs on the couch, feet pushed together as if he were going to do 'butterfly' stretches. He couldn't imagine what kind of horrible dreams all of them, that were there, would have. So much had happened. Though it looked like Kyo didn't mind Akito's words, deep down in him he felt like he was about to shatter like a mirror hit with a hammer. Everything that she spoke, he believed, was probably bound to happen.

Not before long, he was talking quietly with Yuki and Shigure. Telling them why they were late, and no dinner was cooked. The only one that seemed to care about their injuries was Yuki. Even though Shigure claimed to be listening, he was staring out the window mysteriously. It made Kyo and Yuki both wonder some things. Was Shigure actually in complete agreement with Akito and all her plans and orders?

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**Well, I finished this 2 in the morning. I began the day I left for Univ. Studios. So…I had a page or so done. I got home at 1 am and began typing to finish it up and have it posted for the next day/ Wednesday. Which was conveniently the day I finished, lol. -- Confusing stuff those sentences were.**

_Thanks/Comments:_

**TogetherItsumo:** Thank you. Well…I literally updated as soon as I could. The moment I got home I ran into my room and began typing. Its like I was never away. I love my computer, lol. I'm glad to see that you love the story so far. As of now …I have a few plans for the later chapters that may be surprising…or maybe it wont be. My mind just changes every few minutes…who knows. But…nonetheless, enjoy what I type. (Same to all my other reviewers…I'm just too tired to type at the moment, lol)

**YoukaiOnigiri:** Glad to hear/read that you're enjoying this story. Happy to see that you like it so much your going to be my faithful, lil' reviewer person, lol. Chapter 10 should be underway soon. Hopefully, this chapter wont seem boring. O.o Then again…I think I may be getting like K40Sohma… she says her chapter are boring, lol. The history behind the word 'Bas-tich' is all when K40Sohma (Ashley) and I were talking over IM and I was reading scanlations… so…I used it in the fanfic. As well as the word 'Gender Bender' I think that brought a little light humor to the 8th chapter.

**Crystal:** Wow…I get reviews when I'm on vacation, such confusion, haha. Well, here's the chapter. And I'm happy to see you love the story.

**K40Sohma:** Thanks again! I woulda wrote sooner if you knew how to spell 'write', lol. Jk. Hope you liked this chapter as well.

**Ultimate-Furuba-Freak:** O.o Machete? Oh come on, I went on vacation, don't hurt me,lol. I'm guessing that meant you liked it, lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. 


	10. Unbelievable

**Chapter 10: Unbelievable**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba or any of its characters. But I do own any OC I create. (OC Original Characters.) In the paragraph about the teacher (para.9 I think) is made up. **

**Please review. This story has been viewed 751 times and it has only 18reviews, lol. I don't care if its positive or negative reviews. It wont bother me. So..send in those reviews, haha..

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Waking up once more they all got ready for school and left together once more. The quietness was almost deadly. Not even Arisa, who traditionally made fun of Kyo's hair or attitude, was completely quiet. Saki was just as quiet since she wasn't given a reason to talk, and the others were just like walking statues. Their feet may have been moving but their lips weren't. The feeling was almost the same as when you are unsure of what to say to someone when they lose a loved one.

Reaching the school, they go through the same classes as always just as quick as ever. Kyo and Tohru were sitting together at lunch with Uotani and Hana-chan. On the other hand though, Yuki was sitting with the members of the student council. Since of course, he was now the president of the student body until he was to graduate at the end of the term with the rest of the kids in his year. Which had included Kyo, Tohru, Arisa, and Saki. Looking at Tohru, Kyo began to get a little worried. "Tohru…are you feeling well?" Kyo asks looking at her slightly pale face.

Catching his worried eyes, she replies, placing a quick smile on her face, "I'm fine Kyo-kun, thank you." The smile gradually vanished as if someone was yelling at her to stop.

Kyo looks at the doors of the lunchroom. Just beyond them was Hatsuharu. He looked just as lifeless as ever. Something had definitely happened on the day he had ran into them in the forest. Though he wasn't quite sure. All Kisa told him was that Kureno was being mean. "Whatever that's worth," he grunts under his breath. Getting to his feet, Tohru looks up at him curiously. Seeing her look at him he turns around and glances at her. "I'm gonna talk with Haru a little…I'll be back, okay?" He sounded slightly aggravated at the feeling that he was obligated to answer her odd, glued expression that was resting on his eyes. She nods and smiles, then continues eating the lunch she had bought.

Arisa and Saki kept her company. It was the first time either of them had spoken that day. Though, Uo had a right to be a little quiet. She had seen her and Kyo get hurt right in front of her. When she saw this, she must have felt helpless. Like she was just uselessly standing there as a crowd to observe what exactly was going on. Did she feel as though it was her fault that Tohru got hit? Or that Kyo got hurt? What she was thinking at the moment, she wasn't able to keep a firm grasp on. It was as though her thoughts were slipping away from her furiously reaching and closing hands.

Approaching Haru after a fairly long walk to the doors, Kyo leans against the wall beside him. "What's up with you Haru?" He says quickly as Haru begins to walk off. "What did Kureno do to you to make you look so emotionless?" Kyo continues on, asking a second, much more important, question. He watches Haru stop in his tracks and turn around almost tripping, as he stood upright.

"You don't understand what it's like to love someone. And then be told that your not allowed to be close to that person, Kyo." He murmurs to him quietly, stepping a little closer so that Kyo could comprehend what he was saying. "I'm…. not allowed to go near Rin. And… if I do… she'll get hurt." Haru continued on, his voice extremely soft as if everything he said was coming from the last bits of air his lungs had kept hold of. "I…I wouldn't be able to stand it…if she got hurt again because of me." He whispers just as quiet as his last sentence. Kyo opened his mouth to speak, but Haru merely ignored that and went on with what he was saying. "We finally got back together Kyo! We're finally together again… and Akito's taking her from me! She's pulling away my life practically …" said Haru desperately as he stared at Kyo, eye to eye even though he was a year younger in age and school wise.

Upon hearing this there was nothing that Kyo really couldn't say. "You, Haru Sohma, think that I don't know what it's like to love someone…" He said gently back to him, almost repeating what he had said. "That's…where you are wrong Haru… I know what it's like. Because I do love someone. And I'm happy…that for the time being… I can be with her every day, almost every minute." Kyo informs him strongly as if he had been offended by his remark. Grinning softly, he tilts his head and says, "Since when do you let Akito control your life, Haru," then walks off back into the lunchroom to retrieve his bags and head to his next class.

He sat quietly in the next class, utterly alone. The first person to arrive was the teacher, followed by Yuki, Tohru, and Arisa. Somehow, Saki had gotten caught up in a wave contest, but they ignored that knowing that no one else in the school had the powers that Hanajima-chan had. From left to right in the desks sat: Kyo, Tohru, Arisa, Saki, and then Yuki. Behind Yuki were his many fan girls or as they liked to call themselves, 'The Prince Yuki Fan Club'. The class began the moment twenty-two students were seated. Though no one knew why the teacher had waited for that exact number. It was probably some kind of number complex. Like, maybe he believed he'd get bad luck for that many years if he didn't get started in that fashion, with that precise number of students seated.

The time went by quickly, only for everyone to go running out of the class as quick as possible. The five of them went to the gym and played tennis outside with Haru and Momiji. For the first time in days Haru had a somewhat happy expression draped across his face. And, without further question, the game began, all of them hitting the ball as hard as they could, paying completely no attention to any of the rules. By the end of the day, they were all wiped out and went back to their homes. With the exception of Saki who did not bare even the slightest sweat drop.

Haru and Momiji went back towards the Main Housing and got to their homes to where their parents were located. "Please Yuki…have fun with everyone at Sensei's home, it's better for you." Haru had said to him in private, as he was about to leave.

When Kyo, Tohru, and Yuki got back to Shigure's house, they took turns taking showers and getting their pajamas on. Afterward, they all studied together, Kyo yelling at Yuki whenever he got a question wrong.

"Damn! Damn! DAMN RAT! DAMMIT!" He exclaims stabbing the pencil angrily down into the table they were working it. The tip of it snapped and he now had a broken pencil. Tohru sharpens it for him happily, trying to take no notice of the anger in Kyo's voice as he yelled at Yuki. After the short, but loud quarrel between Yuki and Kyo, it was quiet and they did only their work together. Kyo, in complete surprise, helped them with almost all the questions. Although he never listened much in class, Kyo seemed to know more. Maybe he was just better at understanding the given directions or something of that sort.

By the time they finished, they were so tired that they all could have just fallen asleep on the ground in the living room, circling the table with their motionlessly tired bodies. But, trying not to act lazy, they all went upstairs to their rooms and laid in bed quietly.

Each of them drifted wearily to sleep and more then likely forgot everything they all took turns teaching each other. Their dreams were filled with things they enjoyed doing. For the fact that no stress was put on any of them today, they all slept well.

Tohru's dream consisted of almost every member of the Juunishi along with Saki and Arisa. Only it excluded Akito and Kureno as if they had became the outcasts of the group. They all enjoyed themselves playing games outside. They ran around, played tag, and played tennis without the rules again.

Kyo, in his dream beat Yuki badly to a motionless body. He was running around proudly and rubbing it in Akito's face. As if that wasn't enough, he found himself kissing someone and woke up, startled. Sweat gently glided down his face, his eyes wide as he stared into the darkness. The glow from the moon was the only light that seemed to just barely elucidate the room. He couldn't believe what he had done in his dream. And he knew exactly whom he had kissed. Ms. Tohru Honda. His lips had gently touched her soft ones. Then just seconds later he had awoke to the moment its at now.. "It…" he breathes heavily, and places his hands on the bed, "was just a dream… that…wont ever happen." He finishes slowly, "Not to a person like me…." Lying back down he goes back to sleep and his dream began to shift around from good to bad to good again. Everything was confusing ever since he had awoke and gone back to sleep.

The oddest dream of all was Yuki's. It didn't show anything happy, but the worst possible things that could happen in the future. He saw Kyo being locked away, his hands pressed against the cold, steel door that was tightly locked, screaming for someone to help him.. Then he saw Hatori whose cheeks were fairly damp as he pressed his hand to her forehead. The girl fell backwards and revealed to be Tohru, dream Yuki's eyes got wide in fright. Akito was now walking towards him slowly, as if she had been infected by yet another illness. Her hands gently rested on his shoulders, her face moving closer to his. Yuki's eyes shot open, now awake. In pure fright, his eyes got even wider. Looking down at him with a careful grin was Akito.

Yuki sat up and pulled himself back as far as he could until he hit the wall. The gazing eyes that were Akito's slid across the side of his bed. Her hands were on the edge of his bed, leaning over toward him. "Yuki…" she whispers quietly and grabs him by the hand, tossing him out of bed. "I feel the need to have you know something." Akito-san began carefully, then an evil smirk crossed her face, "Kyo, in order to stay free, has to defeat you. As of course, the Cat can never beat the Rat." Then she added more as she went along. Yuki's eyes grew wide hearing all of this. The darkness was consuming her. Yuki's room was practically pitch black since the moon seemed to be glowing near Tohru and Kyo's room. (_Author's note: Akito had said more to Yuki then I typed. This will all eventually be revealed)_

"Tha…. That's not right." Yuki stutters stumbling to his feet to look at Akito in slight fear. "You shouldn't do that…." He mumbles quietly.

Suddenly, she places her right hand on his left cheek, her thumb digging in to the other side of his face. It got red as soon as her nail touched his skin. "You will not tell me what I should and shouldn't do Yuki…" she moved closer and whispered this into his ear. "Now, remember that you will not tell anyone. Not even Honda Tohru…" At the sound of Tohru's name he nodded. He didn't want to make a dumb mistake and have her get harmed again. He had already been told of what happened the night before when she was with Kyo.

One thing suddenly got into his head quickly. How had Akito appeared in his room when she was just in his dream? Could it be that what he was dreaming was going to happen? Were Tohru's memories of the Sohmas' actually going to be wiped out? Was Kyo actually going to be locked away for the rest of his life? Though he felt very bad for Kyo, there was not a chance in hell that he would lose intentionally to him. After all these years he still was hated by him, so why try to help out. His pride was far too large for him to just give up to Kyo. It was all too unbelievable. Had Akito actually just spoken to him?

He blinks a couple times and sees that Akito was still there, staring at him questioningly. "I …. I wont tell a soul. Not even Ms. Honda." Akito's eyes were still locked on him. What more did she want him to say? Did she want him to just hand his own soul over as a guarantee? "I wont tell anyone at all." He pauses then sees a slight grin on Akito's face, "And I especially wont tell Kyo…." Yuki murmurs to her quietly. "Now…please… leave," said Yuki as he tried to pull his face from her grasp.

Letting go of his face, she turned and walked toward the bedroom door. "Yuki….you should come visit me more often. A second room is being built. I can lock you in there again. It'll be all yours. No one to bother you…" her voice trailed off as she exited the room cautiously and vanished downstairs. No sooner had she left the room was she walking into the forest with the waiting Kureno.

Sitting back on his bed, he lays back and stares at the ceiling. "Why can't my dreams be good ones…. And not nightmares." He whispers as he fell back to sleep rethinking the things that Akito had added at the end. Only he knew and he alone. The sorrow he was beginning to feel was horrible. How would everything turn out if he doesn't tell everyone what he was told? What if he can't get to Kyo in time to inform him?

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**Thanks:**

**Ultimate-Furuba-Freak:** I'm happy to see that you're continuing to enjoy the chapters. And on my trip to Univ. Studios… it was fun but when I woke up the next day I was completely sore. Still am. (laughs) Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**K40Sohma:** Fine then...here's the next chapter,lol. Hope you like this one. Its kinda strange...

**Tohruismyoneechan:** I don't want you feeling their pain O.o. That's not good. But...its good. I'm confusing myself. Its good cause I'm guessing I am showing their expression and stuff. So, here's the tenth chapter. Its a little odd... so... hope you enjoy.

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**Comments:**

Well. I finished chapter 10! I guess I just type and type and type…: goes on for an hour: until I can't type anymore. Well I may as well make this a little free type zone like Takaya-san. Whenever I type I listen to music. So when I type these chapters I listen to either: 'Every Heart' an Inuyasha song, or 'Let's Stay Together' Furuba opening, or of course L'Arc-en Ciel. I swear…without those songs…I bet I couldn't stay focused and typed. I guess it keeps me going. The songs I listen to usually vary with the mood of the chapter. Just imagine what I listen to when I type all of Akito's nauseating speeches. Actually to be honest, I listen to 'Invitation to Freedom' by L'Arc-en-Ciel. Does any of this make the slightest sense?

If there's anything anyone wants me to talk about at the end of a chapter just tell me. I can probably find stuff to say, lol. Anything that has to do with Fruits Basket or anime's/manga that I am familiar with. (Which are: Furuba, Full Metal Alchemist, Inuyasha, Samurai Champloo, FullMetal Panic, s-CRY-ed, D.N Angel, FoolyCooly, Ranma 1/2) I watch anime and read manga too much, lol.


	11. Test Day

**Chapter 11: Test Day**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba or any of its characters.

Hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Until I can piece some stuff together chapter 12 will be set to come out in a couple of days.

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Kyo and Yuki re-awoke the next morning restlessly. The look of irritation on their faces made Tohru a little afraid to say anything to them. After getting to school though, they were all talking happily. Then, out of nowhere, Mayu-san walked into the class that was almost in a complete uproar with everyone yelling across the room to their friends.

She slams her hands on the desk that sat in front of the entire class. Everyone quickly stared ahead, all of them quiet. Tohru was smiling politely at the teacher as she always had. Kyo couldn't believe that she was so cheerful on such a day. Then it hit him, "She forgot didn't she…" his eyes were a little wide as he looked down at his desk and muttered this out.

"Everyone get a plain piece of paper on the desk as well as a pencil. I trust you all studied for your test today!" Mayu exclaims so that the entire class could hear her speaking. "Hurry up! Your teacher is annoyed and this test will more then likely determine if you pass this class!" Her voice was overpowering the quiet chattering of students in the back. Each and every desk had a blank piece of loose-leaf on it and a sharpened pencil with an eraser.

Out of the corner of Kyo's eye he could see Tohru's blank expression. She did forget about the test. They had only just studied the night before. How could she forget this? Could she have had such a great dream that the test had just slipped from her mind and out of her ears? He was confused for a second. Since when is Tohru not constantly trying to be ready for a big test? Was she in some kind of stupidity trance or something? There was no mistaking the fright that grew on her face when she heard that the test meant either passing or failing. He couldn't believe that she didn't remember anything from last night. Its impossible to study for almost three hours and not retain anything. **_She'll do fine, _**Kyo thought to himself reassuringly. His irritation was carefully building up inside of him as he saw Tohru beginning to calm down. **_Did I just get fricken worried for nothing!_** He exclaims in his mind. Then, calming down, he picks up his pencil and heads the top of the paper with his name and date.

Mayu slowly walked around the room letting drop stapled papers on to each desk. The test itself was two pages long; seventy different questions dating back to as far as the beginning of the term. All of it had to do with different people in Japanese history places. Some of it was comparison. And there were 'What happened in yada yada' kind of questions as well. Kyo went through the test very slowly. It was the same with Tohru who seemed fairly stumped. Then, there was Yuki. He looked to be zooming through the test with ease. Kyo and Tohru sighed and mumbled under their breath, "How did he remember all of this stuff from last night?"

He couldn't believe that Yuki had remembered more then him. It seemed so strange that just last night Kyo was the one helping the both of them, then, BANG! Yuki knows the answer to all seventy questions and finishes about two hours before Kyo and Tohru. Was it even possible to think that he had tricked Kyo into thinking he didn't know anything they were studying just so he would explain and drain him of what he knew? Who knew what was going on at the moment. The only conclusion they were to come to was that they had entirely forgot everything they had studied for. Though they both seemed extremely confident with whatever answers they chose or wrote. Not that they were positive that they were correct though.

At almost the same instant, Tohru and Kyo got up and placed their papers and tests on the teacher's desk, then sat back down at their own. Dropping his head onto the desktop, Kyo groans quietly under his breath. He was now under the influence that he had completely flopped on one of the biggest tests they were going to have that whole term. Kyo was already failing one Ancient Japanese history class, if he were to fail the classic literature class that Mayu-san taught then he might not be able to graduate with everyone else in his year. Even though they were in a classic literature lesson they learned a great deal more about Japanese history then about what the class is actually meant for.

By the time everyone had finished with his or her tests in Mayu's class, more then half of the school day had already passed over. It was actually quite a surprise that the classes didn't last nearly as long even though they had taken tests in those classes too. After today ends they'd get the rest of the week off (Thurs., Fri) plus the whole next week. When that short vacation ends they'll come back just to freshen up on some skills they learned and be told if they are to graduate or have to repeat the grade.

On the way home, Yuki went in a different direction, leaving Kyo and Tohru to walk home alone again. For what it was worth, it looked to be like he was walking in the direction of the Main Sohma estate. He most likely got in with ease cause they never saw him following near or far behind them.

Approaching the few steps up to the front door of Shigure's home again as always when coming back to the house, Kyo and Tohru sat down on them. The both of them stared at the trees and the little stream that had created itself to the side of the shrubs behind the trees. They sat there for a few minutes; clearly they were redoing the test in their head as if by doing that it'd reset their answers to all of the correct ones. Suddenly Kyo got up and walked inside leaving Tohru by herself on the steps. She smiles gently then gets to her feet as well and glances at the trees once more then follows him inside.

She began to get the dinner ready with the remains of the food Kyo had bought when they last visited Kagura at the hospital. So far they hadn't heard any news. Good or bad. All they knew was that Kazuma-dono was still staying with her in her hospital room to keep her company. For all they knew she was in a coma or she was awake every minute of every day since they left.

**x**

Meanwhile, back at the Sohma estate, Yuki was getting closer and closer to entering the house that Akito and Kureno lived in. His fists close feeling a roaring anger rip throughout him. All he was thinking about at the moment was: **_How dare she come into my room… and then tell me to keep my mouth shut about such important things_**. His mind was everything at the moment except clear. The only reason he cared about what Akito had said the night before was because he knew that if this were to happen Tohru would be hurt. Since, there was no denying the fact that she loved Kyo and not him. He couldn't bear to see what she would be like if that ever happened. The thing that bothered him the most was that Akito had most likely been planning this for years ever since she made the deal with Kyo.

Lifting up his right arm Yuki knocks on the door that was in front of him. From where he was standing he could hear the gentle tapping of approaching footsteps. He stood still almost feeling completely numb. The door carefully swung open to reveal Kureno standing emotionlessly in front of him. "Where is she…?" Yuki says almost demanding an instant response.

Kureno tilts his head trying to act like a confused dog. Then as if he could read Yuki's aggravated thoughts, he answered, "Akito is sitting in her room. She's quite ill." Hearing this, Yuki ran in passed him and searched the house quickly.

Then as he got to the final door that he had yet to open he turned the knob. Pushing it, he walks in to find Akito standing behind a set up paper wall. She was changing into a newer kimono. Yuki turns around full of hatred and disgust. Walking out from behind the wall, Akito smiles happily as if she knew she had said something to get Yuki to come back to her. "My dear, dear Rat-san." She whispers unnoticeably. "So you decided to come back to me Yuki?" Akito asks curiously, pulling her kimono back onto her shoulder as the sleeve began to fall down.

He turns around and looks at Akito in annoyance. "I didn't come back to you!" Yuki exclaims quickly glaring at her. "I HATE YOU!" He yells furiously as he stomped toward her.

An evil grin slips onto her face hearing Yuki's last statement. Her fist found its way into Yuki's chest. He lunges forward in aching pain, coughing many times as he gasped for air. Laughing quietly under her breath, Akito pulls her hand away from Yuki's chest and watches him hit the ground, his arms wrapped around his torso. She stomps on his back hard and laughs proudly. "You don't hate me Yuki!" Akito shouts, stomping on him again. "WITHOUT ME YOU WOULD HAVE NO ONE!" exclaims Akito kicking him in the side as he rolls over in pain.

Dragging himself to his knees, he feels the anger inside him become a sense of excruciating pain. Looking up at Akito he slams his fist into the ground. "Let … Let me make a deal with you too, then…" the words sputtered from his lips before he realized what he was saying. He received an interesting stare from Akito and knew that she was now going to pay absolute attention to whatever he says. Her eyebrows raised waiting for him to continue, as she was now entirely curious in what he would add after making the last comment.

"If… I graduate with a higher grade then both Tohru and Kyo averaged together… then.. you have to leave them both alone. If… I don't then you'll have both me and Kyo as your little mindless minions." He finishes, breathing extremely heavily. Yuki's voice was a little sore from lack of air. It was actually becoming so bad that he couldn't catch his breath.

Akito calls Kureno in and he carries Yuki out of the room and over to Hatori's house. After being shortly examined, Hatori puts a mask over Yuki's nose and mouth to allow air direct access into his body. His heart was beating very quickly as if it was trying to help frantically search for oxygen. The air got to his lungs after a short second and he starts to inhale and exhale regularly.

Softly gazing down at him, yet another grin crossed Akito's face. "What is this Yuki…. your seventh test of the day?" She questions almost trying to taunt him. "It seems your grade his dropped. As of course," Akito smirks, "you just failed one." Grabbing his hand she squeezes it hard making him wince a little, then she walks out of the room where he was laying in, in Hatori's house.

**x**

Yuki's eyes slowly flicker shut and Hatori gathered him up in his arms and exited his home through a secret door. Walking into the forest he seeks out Shigure's home. After reaching it he knocks on his door gently. The door swung open and Haru was standing there. Clearly he had been so worried about Yuki not arriving home with Kyo and Tohru that he came to Sensei's house and waited for him to return. So naturally, when he saw Yuki just lying in Hatori's arms like he was some type of bride he was fairly shocked.

Walking into the house slowly passing Haru, he rests Yuki on the couch in the living room. All of them had eaten dinner except for Yuki of course. Tohru had placed his dinner in a box so that when he got home there would be food all ready for him. Entering the living room with Kyo, Tohru's eyes get wide when she sees that Yuki was apparently sleeping on the couch with bruises on his sides. His shirt had been removed earlier so that Hatori could make sure he was breathing properly. Running to his side, she kneels down and looks at him full of anxiety. Even Kyo was a little surprised to see Yuki so bruised up. He too walked over to the couch and stood beside Tohru, looking down at him.

"What happened to Yuki-kun?" She asks looking at Hatori.

Not wanting to lie, Hatori responds truthfully, "Akito-san attacked him. I'm not completely sure what their dispute was about but it had obviously angered Akito." Tohru's attention by the time he had finished was back on Yuki. Her fingers were intertwined with his. Seeing this, Kyo immediately ran upstairs and slammed his door shut, and laid on his bed full of pure fury. Tohru tried to call him as he spun around to leave but he didn't listen to her and went upstairs completely ignoring the current situation. She sighs and rests her head on the couch, waiting for Yuki to reawaken.

Hatori had left without further word. He was only shown out by Shigure since they were friends and apart of the 'Mabudachi Trio'. They spoke with each other for a mere moment and then the door closed and Shigure came into the living room. He plainly sighs and looks at Yuki sadly. Haru and Tohru were sitting side by side near the couch. They knew he was already because Hatori had told them so just minutes before he left.

Meanwhile upstairs, Kyo was now sitting up on his bed, knees pulled up to his chest. He now knew he had to shut himself away from everyone. The one person he loved more then life, the only person he knew that would forever offer to be by his side other then Shishou, seemed to care too much about others to recognize his love for her. Though it didn't mean he would stop trying to beat Yuki, because he wasn't prepared to give up before graduation came in about two months.

Opening his window, he climbs out carefully and pulls himself up the side of the house with the help of a small ladder over his window. After getting to the roof he lays back and looks up at the moon, hands folded behind his head as he attempted to act like he wasn't bothered by anything.

Back in the house, Yuki was finally beginning to stir a little. Haru and Tohru's faces began to beam happily and they both grabbed hold of his hands and sat him up. In the same moment the two of them asked, "Are you okay Yuki-kun?" The only person he was surprised by was Hatsuharu who had added '-kun' at the end of his name. It just plainly freaked him out for a second.

"I'm…. I'm just fine." He replies quietly, getting off the couch and walking away from them.

Entering Shigure's workroom slash bedroom, Yuki glares at Shigure. Out of nowhere he tackles him and punches him in the face viciously. He howled in pain and pushed Yuki off of him. There was no doubt whatsoever that Shigure was just blankly confused at the feeling of pain. Clearly he believed he had given Yuki no reason to attack him the way he did.

"DAMMIT SHIGURE!" He exclaims getting back to his feet after he had been pushed away. "YOUR ENJOYING EVERYTHING AKITO IS DOING AREN'T YOU!" Yuki continues to yell only to hear the door open and be restrained by Haru as he went to go at him again.

"Yuki stop this!" says Haru quickly, as his arms lock under his to keep him from going back to Shigure. "You're going to hurt Sensei!" he adds quietly to Yuki as he tosses him out of the room, knocking the door down.

Shigure quickly mourns. "My house… its gonna fall down today isn't it? Just because I am a part of a cursed family…my house gets cursed…" He whispers to himself sadly as he gets to his feet, rubbing his red right cheek from when Yuki punched him.

Seeing Yuki on the ground and Haru standing in front of him, Tohru became quickly perplexed. Nothing came to mind as she watched Ox-san get in Yuki's way whenever he tried to storm back into Shigure's room.

"SHIGURE YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU BE DOING THIS?" Yuki yells over Haru's shoulder as he is held back. Grabbing Haru and throwing him to the side he runs up to see Shigure almost eye to eye. "You! _You _know all about Akito's little messed up attacks and plans don't you?" He asks quickly, looking completely furious with him. When Shigure doesn't show signs of opening his mouth, Yuki takes hold of the collar of his shirt, pushing him against the wall. "DON'T YOU!" He repeats becoming extremely annoyed. "What kind of person puts people through tests, huh Shigure? Why is Akito testing us in every way possible?" Yuki questions once more.

Suddenly the door is knocked to the side. Tohru, Shigure, Haru, and Yuki all turn around and look.

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**Comments:**

This chapter was fun to write. And for information if you are confused about the time the graduation comes read just below.

When the vacation begins the next day in the fanfic it'll be two months until graduation. After that chapter ends one month and twenty-two days will pass. The chapter following it will be set five days prior to the graduation ceremony.

**Thanks:**

**Ultimate-Furuba-Freak:** Thanks for another...interesting review in which you threaten me?lol. Its all cool though, they're fun to read. haha.. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter while I begin to type chapter 6 of Hagaren No Baka to give me a little break on this fic. But I'm pretty sure I have lined up my ideas the way I wanted so you can expect some pretty good chapters coming soon.


	12. Come Forth Child

**Chapter 12: Come Forth Child

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**Disclaimer:**** I still don't own Furuba. And sadly, I never will.**

**Sorry about the mini hiatus. I had to take a break from this fanfic to write Hagaren No Baka's next couple chapters. So, I hope everyone enjoys. This chapter is a little sad, so… sorry if it makes those who read it feel a little gloomy.

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Kyo's eyes grew wide as he stared at the miniature-sized person who was standing beside the fallen door. He couldn't believe his eyes. Rubbing them, he saw Tohru peeking over his shoulder. She too seemed to be fairly shocked at the sight.

Everyone's eyes were on the little boy that was standing just behind them. "Ka…Katsuro…" Kyo mumbles quietly, staring at the child. "How'd you get in…?" he asks sounding completely stunned by his appearance. "Why are you here? How'd you find us?" Cat-san continues to question the kid that they had saw the night Akito forced Tohru to see his transformation once more.

The room was filled was an alarming sound of quiet. No one was moving. Only Kyo's lips were as he spoke. Suddenly, Tohru runs passed Kyo and kneels down to Katsuro. "Hello Katsuro-chan!" She says as cheerfully as possible. There seemed to be nothing worse them complete silence when someone walks in. It could make he or she feel extremely awkward. "How are you today?" Tohru says quietly, in a gentle whisper.

His eyes were gazing back and forth around the house, scanning everything quickly before meeting each of the Sohmas' eyes: Kyo, Haru, Yuki, and Shigure. It was gradually getting late in the day and the boy had stood still for many minutes at a time. No doubt he was frightened when he walked in and found himself being stared at. It left him completely speechless. She was right, there was nothing worse then walking into an unfamiliar house and being greeted by silence and stares. Something was clear about their stare. He knew he wasn't supposed to be there. Especially the way Kyo asked his questions about how he got here and stuff.

Tears dripped down his cheeks and he dropped to his knees, streams of tears running off his face from his eyes. Tohru quickly hugged him close in an attempt to calm him down. His arms gently, but quickly wrapped around her neck as he began to cry into her shoulder. Kyo's hand was outstretched a little in slight worry. Yuki and Haru took a step toward Tohru and Katsuro. Without anyone noticing, Shigure escaped from the house entirely and went off somewhere. "What's wrong Katsuro-chan?" She asks trying to sound comforting. He softly shakes his head, practically refusing to answer anyone's questions. "Please tell me what's wrong Katsuro-chan…." Tohru whispers into his ear quietly, once again she just wanted him to calm down a little.

Lifting his head a little he looks into Tohru's eyes, though his face was a little damp with tears, a polite smile leaped across his face. "My…. My…." He stutters. Kyo kneels down beside Tohru and looks at the boy curiously. "My… my mother… a… and father… they… they were killed." Katsuro threw his head into her chest, his hands closed on her sleeves. Tears damped her light red sweater. She was pretty cold, the air conditioner had broken and they couldn't raise the temperature. Tohru rubs his back, and rests her head on his small shoulder, crying a little as well. If anyone knew what it was like to lose their mother or father, it was Tohru.

Grabbing the kid by the back of the shirt, Kyo pulls him out of her grasp. Carefully, he drops the boy in front of himself. "Look here Katsuro, and answer me honestly, did you see them get killed?" He asks somewhat annoyed at the constant crying of the two of them.

Slowly, he shakes his head side to side and says, "Yes." Kyo's eye twitches; the feeling of strangling the kid ran through his hands. Everyone knows that when you shake your head from left to right it means 'no'. But he decided to let it slide.

"What did the person look like?" He asks curiously, tapping the kid on the head to hold his attention. Kyo wanted him paying attention when he asked these questions. He needed a straight answer or else it'd screw up what he was thinking.

The boy looked to be thinking, and at that, he thought for about twenty minutes, not opening his mouth even once. Suddenly, his lips spread a little to speak, "The person had… black hair. And a long, multi dark colored, kimono. The murderer had a raspy voice, like a woman with a sore throat, but I think it was a guy." Yuki and Kyo's eyes grew wide; both of them had been thinking frightful things. Katsuro cautiously continues on as if he knew he touched on something they were thinking, "A-and… the person said that they had saw something they shouldn't have seen." His voice was so gentle and quiet that you'd think he was almost just fine. But then, tears began to swell up in his eyes once more. He slams his hands on to the ground in front of him, leaning forward, looking down at the floorboards. "I was right there! I was under my bed and watched it all!" He yells sadly, sobbing like crazy now. "I could've done something! But… I was… I was too scared."

Kyo, knowing the feeling of being too scared to speak up, grabs the boy and hugs him. He began to think that he was growing up to be just like his Shishou. **_This is what it must have been like when Shishou found me. He felt so overwhelmingly bad for me that he began to grow onto me like moss on a tree. This boy… is so much like me, only much more innocent. I can't let him grow up the same way I did. In belief that it was his fault his mother and father died. Just as I believed it was my fault my mother committed suicide. _**"Katsuro… you shouldn't--." Ms. Honda quietly cuts him off.

"Blame yourself…" she finishes for Kyo gently. "Maybe you could've done something Katsuro-chan… but… it wasn't your fault that anything happened to them. I bet your parents are very happy that you didn't do anything." Katsuro looked at her in confusion as she spoke this. "They are happy because you didn't get hurt. They must be proud of you. You had to have been very brave to stay hidden like that. It took so much out of you didn't it." She whispers to him. He sat down in front of both Kyo and Tohru.

Yuki's eyes were still wide. He looks at them and sighs. Tohru, Kyo, and Katsuro. They looked like a small, yet caring family. Though Kyo never really seemed like a father figure, he was oddly nice to the young boy. Did he feel some sort of connection with him? Was it all because of the way Kyo had felt when he was younger and his mother died? Nonetheless, he hated seeing that group. That pairing of Kyo and Tohru. **_He isn't right for her! He doesn't deserve to be with such a sweet girl! That's Kyo we're talking about. He was the one that didn't want her in this household! How come he loves her and she loves him back!_** Yuki groans and runs away from them, going upstairs to his room.

Walking over to Katsuro, Haru pats him on the head gently. "I hope you feel better kid. Maybe Sensei will allow you to stay here for a while. I'm sure Kyo and Tohru have a liking for you." He says then walks out of the house, hands in his pockets.

Katsuro blinks and then sees an annoyed expression on Kyo's face. He stands up and looks down at him. "We have to start our vacation babysitting a kid…." He groans then goes upstairs. Sitting in the hallway on the second floor, he looks at his hands. There was no denying it now. He had taken a little liking toward the kid. It was like having another person around that has had almost the same thing happen to them. But again, he felt it was his entire fault. Katsuro's parents had to have seen him transform from their house. When Akito had left, she must have noticed this and went into the house. Katsuro must have then went home, and seeing Akito there, hid under his bed. Eventually the argument reached his bedroom where his parents were killed. If Kyo had never transformed, they wouldn't have seem Katsuro, and the boy's parents wouldn't have died.

Smiling at Katsuro, she took stands up. Tohru grabs his hand and says, "For now you can stay here. I'm sure Shigure-san wont mind. You can sleep in my bed if you like." She offers to him sweetly. (**a.n:** Katsuro is around Hiro and Kisa's age.) Slowly, she walks upstairs with him, moving up one step at a time at an extremely cautious pace. Katsuro clearly knew Kyo was somewhere up there.

Standing on the second floor now, Katsuro and Tohru blink many times when they see Kyo just sitting in the hallway. Releasing his hand, she tells him where her room is. He walks passed Kyo and slides into Tohru's bedroom. Meanwhile, as Katsuro fell on her bed and drifted into a deep sleep, she sat down beside Kyo. "Is something bothering you Kyo-kun?" Honda-san asks quietly seeing the feeling of remorse on his face. "Are you feeling well?" Her hand touched his forehead and almost instantly, his face got red from blushing.

He shakes his head and pulls her hand off his forehead. "I'm fine… really." He mumbles to her then gets to his feet. Tohru followed doing the same. She smiles at him then out of nowhere she hugs him. For a moment he didn't transform. He couldn't understand it, he looked around a little, then poofed into his cat form. It had taken much longer then usual. Tohru stares at the little orange cat in her arms. He curls up while she was holding her, and rests his head on her sleeve covered left arm, her right arm was under him holding him up. Walking into his room, clothes draped over him, she lays him on the bed. Bringing the quilt of the bed up, she rests it halfway up his body.

"Sleep well Kyo-kun…." She whispers to him, kissing him on the forehead while he was in his cat form. Carefully, Tohru places his clothes on the bed beside him. Leaving his bedroom, she enters her own and finds Katsuro already fast asleep. She couldn't figure out why she had kissed him. It was like an urge. Something inside her forced her to do this. Just as that same thing forced her to hug him without giving any notice. And even when she did hug him, it was a delayed transformation. Was Kyo in such deep thought that his body had to adjust and then allow him to transform?

Slowly, she lays down beside Katsuro in the bed. He turns over and lets his hand rest on her stomach. Katsuro was sound asleep. And in a matter of moments, so was Tohru.

In the middle of the night, Kyo transformed back to his human form. It had taken longer to transform back, just as it had taken fairly long for him to poof into a cat. He dresses back into the clothes he was wearing earlier. Then lays back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling blankly. Suddenly, he felt his hand reach up and touch his forehead. "Why…. does it feel like I've been touched….?" He whispers quietly. His fingers floated to the center of his forehead. "Right here…." As his voice trailed off he fell into a gentle sleep. His mind on more then he believed he could even handle.

Yuki was long asleep. His thoughts clouded with the sight of Tohru and Kyo together. The words 'he doesn't deserve her' ran around in his dreams. It was on street signs, buildings, billboards, the street itself, and he even found it stamped on Kyo's forehead. It read, 'I don't deserve her.' Dream Yuki nods happy with what's going on and actually falls asleep in his dreams.

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**Thanks:**

**Ultimate-Furuba-Freak:** Thanks again! I came back and wrote sooner then I expected. It seems I can't keep away from this story for more then a few days. I do hope that if you read my other fanfic (Hagaren No Baka) that you enjoyed it! Though it's a pretty different style of my writing I suppose, lol. And go ahead and recommend it to your friend. I hope they enjoy this fanfic! You seem to really be enjoying each chapter. That's great!

**YoukaiOnigiri: **Chapter 11 kind of opened the story up slowly. Though it may not have been noticed to well. Shigure…is just a little weird. And who doesn't want to kill Akito? Haha.Sorry about not adding you to the special thanks last chapter, I missed the review. But, anyways, Kyo is not dumb, lately he's been thinking a lot and he's realizing that he can finally say the things he wants, may it be helpful or a shoot down at someone. So, his advice is just whatever he thinks on the subject, even if he doesn't mean to say it. - I confused myself…

**I don't think I should say:** Not sure why you shouldn't say, but…lol. I'm glad to see that you're enjoying this fanfic so far. Happy that I'm making you excited for the next chapter (this one) as well. Answer to your question- This story should be about 18-20chapters. Depending on how much I can come up with. Its on pace to land at about 18, but 20 is a possibility. If I end it any sooner then chapter 18, then a sequel would be coming eventually. But, I may try to end it without a sequel. It really all depends on what the reviewers want. If they want a sequel, I'll try my best to create one. The ending…is still a little cloudy for me. I have an idea on what I want to happen that will definitely be in affect. But, I'm not sure how the final chapter will end. Maybe I'll create the sequel picking up from there…. Continue to R&R.

**K40Sohma:**Thanks? Lol. Continue to R&R ash. You're at my house as I'm typing this. But, oh well. And don't threaten me…it frightening. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Keep calling me evil ant I guess,lol.

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**If you read these headers, place XloLX at the bottom of your review,lol. Just curious if anyone reads the special thanks and little notes I put at the top and bottom.**


	13. Evening Scare

**Chapter 13: Evening Scare

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**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Furuba.**

**This is a rather strange/sad way to get the vacation started. And no need to fear, the vacation itself will last about 2 chapters (this being the first), there will be a separation of about six days between them. That way I can get it to end without having each day of the vacation a chapter.**

**Please R&R!

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Kyo was downstairs eating breakfast with Tohru, when suddenly Katsuro walked in to the kitchen and sat in the chair between them. There was a plate of food for him as well as Shigure and Yuki on the other side of the table. He smiles at the two of them and then goes on eating. They couldn't believe how much he was eating. It was like his parents or something were always starving him. Then again, it had been a day or two since his parent's probably died, so maybe he was just so gloomy he couldn't eat.

Smiling at him at him happily, Tohru gets up from her chair and walks passed Kyo to the sink. Cleaning off her plate quickly, she turns back around after trying it and goes on passed the both of them. She stops at the threshold of the kitchen and looks at them, "I have to go to work. I'll be back around dinner time!" Finally, she leaves the kitchen as well as the house and goes on down the path that stretches all the way out to the main streets.

Tohru alertly walks across the road, crossing the street so that she could be on the same side of the sidewalk as the building her job was located in. Entering the building after walking a short way down, she puts her apron on so that dirt doesn't get on her clothes, and the bandana on to keep her hair out of her face while she works.

Momiji popped his head out from the side of another wall almost an hour or so later. "Hiiiiiiii!" He yells cheerfully, hopping over to her. Momiji was hardly ever not energetic. It was like a disease that made him constantly hyperactive. "How are you doing? Do you need help? I can do the rest if you like!" He seemed to be full of questions and helpfulness.

She stops her work and smiles at him, waving hello gently. "I'm doing fine Momiji-kun." Tohru says quietly, trying not to draw attention to herself. Lots of time was passing, she had already managed to be working there for three hours. It was just about three o'clock in the day by now.

Out of completely nowhere, women begin to call to Tohru. They had just now realized that she had taken about a twenty-minute break. She had been pretending to work a little before Momiji had come and talked to her full of enthusiasm. "Ms.Honda! Get back to work! You know that if your work isn't done, we wont let you off early today!" One of the taller women shouted to her as if she was a mile a way when she was actually only about fifteen feet from her.

Tohru nods repeatedly and then zooms around the floor cleaning the dishes, mopping and sweeping the floor, dusting any thing that had a speck of dust on it, and she cleaned the table of crumbs and misguided food. She fell down into a chair in the lobby. Momiji was prancing around her, humming as he played musical chairs by himself to exhaust all of his energy. Smiling at him she stood up and waved good-bye. "I'll see you in a few days, or sooner Momiji-kun!" She calls happily, and then leaves the building. Her hands were in front of her, together at her thighs as she walked down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road from her job. Suddenly she began to skip down the path cheerfully. It was only six o'clock, so the sun was still up, getting ready to set in a couple hours. She'd be able to get home early and play games with Kyo, Yuki, Katsuro, and Shigure. Who knows, maybe some of the other members of the juunishi or Sohma family came over today.

As she made her way to turn into the forest where the path ended, someone grabbed her. She was pulled into the forest and tossed to the ground in a shadowy area near a bunch of trees. Three men stood circling her, grinning mischievously. Tohru yells in pain feeling cuts of all sorts on her arms and one across her left cheek. There were even more on her legs since she was wearing a skirt.

"Looks like we got a ourselves a little working girl here, boys." One of them said, kicking her limply. She shouts in a wince of pain and tries to crawl passed them, leaving all her work clothes near the trees she was thrown to. The man who had spoken stepped in front of her and pulled her up by her hair. He pulls her close and grins. "You're not going anywhere babe…." His voice smoothly trails off. Then suddenly, he slaps her across the face and she hits the ground in front of them. "Now…be a good little bitch and stop moving. We just wanna see what's under that top of yours." He laughs and kicks at her leg again.

The other two guys stare at the man who was talking; he was most likely their leader. By their faces it would seem as though they would rather leave Tohru alone, then do anything harmful to her. Then, a second guy walks to her and stares down at her just as the leader had done. "Yes… We'll have to do a thorough search, isn't that right?" He asks turning around to the final man who had yet to move.

He shakes his head blankly. "I'm sorry guys…but even if we are getting paid to … kill her… this isn't right." The man whispers to them, hoping they don't hear what he is saying.

Tohru was lying on the ground in complete pain. She was covered head to toe in cuts that were from the tree branches and twigs on the ground. Her face was red and bruised on the left side from the leader hitting her. Her legs were bruised from him kicking her as well. On a day where she was allowed to go home early all of this happens. A day where she didn't bother to ask or even show worry in front of Kyo or Yuki, just to make sure they didn't have to go out of their way to walk her home. "Pl…Please…stop." She cries out, her legs pulled up to her chest as best as she could, her arms wrapped around them. Tohru carefully buries her head in her knees.

The men stare at her and laugh.

By now the third man had left in search of police and doctors that could help the young girl he didn't even know. All he did know was that if anything bad happened to her, it'd be because he couldn't find help in time. And that wouldn't be a good thing at all.

**x**

He skids to a stop at a large police department and explains everything about how his friends were attacking this girl and how they were paid to do so. A cop quickly gathered up some more police and had the ambulance come with them.

**x**

Out of nowhere, someone jumps down from a tree behind one of the men, and then another figure jumps down behind the other. "Get away from her… right now." One of them said, both of them with their backs to the two guys. As the leader turns around a blow hits the side of his face. The figure behind him had spun and kicked him in the side of the head. He fell and was now unconscious. The other person that had jumped down from the tree knocked out the second attacker instantly.

The two of them turned around and revealed themselves as the light shone on them from a few spaces where there weren't any trees. Both of them extend their hand at the same time. And oddly enough, it was Kyo and Yuki. The two of them didn't yell at each other this time when they offered her a hand. Then, Kyo grabs her by the arm and pulls her up gently. "What happened to you!" He exclaims sounding extremely pissed off at something.

"I was attacked…" she whispers quietly. "By a few guys, that's all…. I'm fine…" Tohru was shaking as she spoke and clearly she was frightened of ever leaving the house and coming back alone again. Tears were dripping down her cheeks. "I.. I tried not to cry Kyo-kun… because… I know that it bothers you…" She whimpers gently then she feels herself getting pushed into Kyo. He had hugged her on his own freewill and that wasn't often. Once more he was embracing her for a few minutes. And just before he felt his transformation coming on, he pulled away from her, placing his hand on her head. "We should get you to the doctors…." Was all he said as the both of them helped her along. Since they were unable to hold her since they would transform, they kept a tight grasp on her hand and held her up that way.

Yuki broke the short silence as they reached the sidewalk, many eyes on them. The cops, ambulance, as well as the third man were standing in front of them now. "Honda-san… did you forget to tell us something?" He asks curiously.

She shook her head gently and looks at the people that were in front of them. The cops spoke up loud and clear, "Let go of the girl and step away!" Kyo and Yuki sigh and kneel down, allowing her to sit.

"Look officer… we are Ms. Honda's friends. We helped her in the forest." Yuki says clearly trying to see if they'd just allow the three of them to pass without having a large broadcast over who they are and such.

Kyo just groans and walks back to Tohru after only taking a step back. "We'll go to Hatori instead, okay Tohru?" He says quietly as he helps her back to her feet and drapes her arm around his neck. It was this way that he didn't have to worry about transforming, only helping her get to the Main Sohma housing was on his mind. As long as she didn't fall into him, he wouldn't poof into a cat. The cops glare and run after Kyo. Yuki stops them and quickly explains that he is taking her to a personal doctor so that she can be properly taken care of. Understanding this they all left, except for the third man from the gang.

**x**

"Sir…. I am sorry that my former friends did that to her." He bows his head and sighs. "I shouldn't have even gone with them. But a woman…. named Akito, paid us to go and kill her. I…couldn't do it." He looks up at Yuki and sees that he glares the moment he heard the name of the woman, "She said to us that we should kill her at all costs. And they easily went along with it. I'm so sorry…" He bows his head once more and straightens up quickly to meet Yuki eye to eye.

He waves his hand in slight forgiveness. "I'm glad you acted the way you did. Going to find the police and such. It wasn't right what your friends were going to do to Honda-san." Yuki says to him then walks away, heading in the direction, again, of the Sohma estate.

**x**

The three of them were there now. Tohru was lying on a bed in Hatori's house and he was putting antibacterial cream all over the wounds on her arms and legs. He places a bandage on her cheek to cover the bruise that she received when the leader hit her. Kyo and Yuki were sitting patiently in the same room as Tohru and Ha-san. Their eyes were obviously full of worry. Even though they hated each other, they both cared deeply for Tohru, and because of that, they put their pure hatred on hold just to make sure she was okay.

Her eyes slowly open after having passed out when they reached Hatori's home. "Whe.. where am I?" she whispers quietly as she looks around the room. She smiles at Kyo and Yuki. They send a gentle smile back to her. She sits up and looks at the bandages all over her arms and legs, she could even feel the bandage on her cheek. The pain was unlike what Akito had done to her. It hurt so much worse. Especially since she was being hit, kicked, and thrown by two men who didn't care one bit what happened to her. The sight of the two men hitting the ground made her heart jump, and when she saw that it was Kyo and Yuki she remembered how she smiled at them as though nothing happened. Like she had not a care in the world. One of the only things that mattered to her was her friends: The Juunishi (most of them), Arisa, and Saki.

They got up and stood on opposite bedsides. "Hatori says you're going to be fine…" Yuki says to her to make her feel a little more comfortable.

Kyo groans and stares at her. "You should've told one of us you were getting out earlier you dummy! We could've walked you home and none of this would've happened!" he shouts in sheer annoyance. She smiles at Kyo making home really wonder. "You know Tohru, you're really confusing…." He smiles back and taps her on the head gently with his fist.

"Hai!"

The three of them laugh and they pull chairs to her bedside and sit down. Kyo leans back and looks at the ceiling thinking about how he could've stopped the two guys if only he had gone with her.

Yuki places his hand on her's and smiles. "We'll be here the five days that you'll be here." When she heard the part about 'five days' she was almost in shock. She almost leapt out of her bed and ran down to her job to inform them of her injuries. Yuki pulled her back down to the bed. "Don't worry Honda-san! I'm betting that Momiji will come later today or tomorrow and tell them for you. You're going to end up overexerting yourself." He says peacefully trying to soothe her.

Looking back at them Kyo groans and gets to his feet. Tohru looks at him and almost unnoticeably shakes her head. He sighs a little and sits back down in the chair beside her bed. "Tohru… go to sleep already!"

"But I just woke up…." She whispers to Kyo gently.

He shakes his head and gets back to his feet again. Bringing his hand up he runs it through the front of his hair. His fingers were in his hair, and the palm of his hand on his forehead. "If you're not in so much pain that you are wide awake, then why can't we all go home! We have a bed there don't we?" he exclaims getting a little embarrassed about what happened last night and early when he had her arm around his neck. His face was beet red.

She smiles at him and gently slides out of bed. "We can go home…" Tohru says softly, limping on both legs. Hatori quickly, but gently, places crutches under her arms and lets her walk.

Yuki's eyes get large as he gets to his feet and runs to Tohru's side. "You shouldn't be walking around Tohru. You were just hurt…" he says quickly in disbelief at how she wasn't showing the least bit of reaction to the almost certain pain she was feeling.

She stops as Kyo steps in front of her. His hands were at his sides and he stares at her. "You don't have to force yourself to walk home with us. I'm…. sorry about making you feel like you had to because I was so aggravated." Looking down as he spoke he whispers quietly, "I'm just really mad that I wasn't able to help you before you got hurt…" His voice was almost unnoticeable amongst the noises from all over Hatori's house as he gave other Sohma patients' shots and medicine.

Pushing him out of the way gently, she laughs and leaps passed him with help from the crutches. Kyo and Yuki follow her quickly so that she doesn't get out of their sight. Soon enough, they arrive back at Shigure's home. He had paid completely no attention to her nor her injuries. It was as though she was just some person they brought into the house that he decided was invisible. Staying by her side as they carefully walked upstairs, Kyo and Yuki helped her into her room.

Slowly she lets herself fall onto her bed and stare at the ceiling. "They…almost killed me." She spoke quietly, catching the two of them off guard. Kyo and Yuki turn around to look at her, seeming very said. Together, their eyes showed the utter worry and regret for not just automatically assuming that they should go and walk her home from work. "If you two hadn't shown up…." She continues on softly, " I could've been raped…or killed…" Her voice shook as tears began to drip down from her eyes. It was hard not to think this way now of course. Since the two of them saved her, it felt only right to think about the worst possible things that could've happened.

Kyo and Yuki stare at her sorrowfully. The two of them smile at her, showing that they were just happy now that nothing in the 'worse possible scenarios' happened. No sooner had that smile showed up had it quickly vanished. She was asleep and their worry returned. Everything slowly became a feeling of entire regret and complete sorrow. It was all pushing down on their shoulders now. They blamed themselves for the pain that was inflicted upon her. All they were able to say was that the worst didn't happen. Not yet.

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**Another day! Yet another Chapter! I hope everyone enjoys reading this chapter! Two straight chapters of somewhat sadness coming from me... Sorry to all my reviewers! But this is how I have it planned out, so to those of who who like the character, then, feel free to say w.e u like in the reviews!**

**Thanks:**

**K40Sohma:** I'm hoping that you liked the chapter and weren't only reviewing because you planned to steal the Kyo plushie like doll, lol.

**YoukaiOnigiri:**Sorry about confusing you! This chapter, I think will make you hate Akito even more. I wasn't aiming for that, but what happens in the next 3-8 chapters I've had planned since the beginning of the fanfic, lol. So this chapter came from my original ideas. It'll all build up soon enough!

**I luv kyo: **Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Your really kind! I guess that's why my chapters are so long, full of detail! Glad to see someone likes my style of writing/typing!

**Ultimate-Furuba-Freak: **For some reason I find it hard to believe that so many people dislike Yuki! Though I don't like him either! Lol! You want me to type more then 19-20 chapters! Lol. It all depends, unless you have a way for me to add more by the time I get to the ending, then I may type more! But so far, nothing has really jumped at me. I'm extremely happy to see that you like it so much that you're surprised I am ending it with not too many chapters! Awwww my story is happy that you hugged it! Lol. Thanks for the hug? (laughs) I hope you liked this chapter! Well…sorta! I mean, I don't want you to like what happened, but I hope you know what I mean! Haha.. Please enjoy the rest of the story as I continue to type.


	14. A Perfect Moment

**Chapter 14: A Perfect Moment

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba or any of its characters.**

**This chapter is set on a Friday, two days until school restarts from their vacation.

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Tohru was finally up and walking, her body just about healed from the horrible encounter she had with the two men in the forest. The cuts, scrapes, and bruises were almost all gone. The only thing that really remained was the bruise on her face where she had been punched. Other then that, the rest of the bandages were gone to reveal just a few really small marks.

Seeing her smiling again, Kyo smiles as well and walks out of Shigure's house to sit on the steps. He stares out at the forest, then leans back and gazes quietly at the sky. All he knew was that he had to calm down before he had the urge to find those two guys and beat them both to a bloody pulp. He knew that by doing nothing, Tohru would be happier. By just being there with her, she'd be even more cheerful. He was positive that she loved when all of them were together. With out a single person missing from the house or area they were at.

"Kyo-kun!" She calls looking around. Even though she wasn't supposed to be picking up the phone when it rings, she had incidentally. It wasn't a bad mistake in this case, as it was Shishou who said he wanted to talk to Kyo quickly. "Ky-yo-kuuuun!" Tohru says loudly, still looking around. She couldn't find him until she saw his figure walking back into the house through the front door.

"What!" He exclaims walking over to her. "What do ya need?" Kyo says now, trying to hide the frustration that was still occupying his body. She hands him the phone and he pulls it gently from her grasp. He puts it to his ear and says, "Yo!" No more then a second later had Shishou go on to tell him lots of news. "Wha… really? That's great! We'll be over there in a few…." He whispers and nods a little smiling. Hanging up the phone he looks at Tohru, his hands at his hips, eyes closed as he smiled.

Seeing his happy expression, Tohru couldn't help but ask what happened. "What did Shishou say, Kyo-kun?" She questions softly, trying not to pry at him to get an answer. She would be perfectly contempt with not knowing, but for now, she felt like it was something that concerned almost the whole house.

"Kagura's getting out of the hospital today…" he explains quietly, placing his hand on Tohru's shoulder. His smile had vanished, his eyes were open now, and his other hand was no longer at his hip. "Look, I want you to come with me…. to pick her up…okay?" Kyo says to her, almost in a whisper. Obviously he didn't want anyone else to know about it. "We'll bring her back here. No doubt she wants to see you and that damn rat…." His voice gently trails off as his hand slid softly down her arm to grab her hand.

She smiles at him cheerfully, and nods. "Of course I'll come with you Kyo-kun!" She exclaims in a whisper. He laughs a little then brings her out of the house, still holding her hand. Carefully they ran through the forest, Kyo keeping a cautious eye on their surroundings, but nonetheless laughing whenever she came close to falling. Each time he helped her up and they continued on. "Kagura-chan will be very happy to see you, right Kyo-kun?" She asks curiously not in so much of a whisper now. He nods slightly, but then again it may have been that they were running and it just looked that way. Tohru smiles at him and then pays attention to where she was quickly putting and pulling her feet on and from.

Then, after a few minutes of quick-paced running, they come to a stop and cross the street slowly. His hand was still gently grasping her's, a happy smile on her face as she began to blush a little. Kyo was looking to the side a little; his face was already really red.

On the other side of the road now, they look around side to side. They turn to the left and begin walking down the sidewalk. His grasp on her hand much tighter then before, but she didn't seem to mind the least bit. It was as though she never wanted him to let go. And she didn't. If he were to let go any time soon, she'd only want to just grab his hand again, and gaze into his eyes. Though, she was under the assumption that he was only holding her hand so that she would be safe, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

Opening the hospital building's door, they walk in slowly and head to the front desk. "Sohma, Kagura…" he says rather loudly, not minding if he really bothered any one that were possibly frightened of going into the doctors for their operations and such. Tohru and Kyo head into the elevator and press the button that indicated the floor that they knew Kagura was on. Gently, and out of completely nowhere, Tohru hugs the arm who's hand was holding her's. He gets completely red from head to toe and looks at her. "T-Tohru… what the hell are you doing…." He asks, clearly a little embarrassed by her actions. Slowly, she pulls away from his arm and turns her back to him a little. She was full of embarrassment. She didn't know what made her do it. But she did and now he sounded mad at her.

"I…I'm sorry Kyo-kun!" she turns back around and begins to repeatedly bow her to him. "I don't know…. what came over me. I'm so sorry!" Tohru says to him, almost sounding as if she was on the verge of tears.

He stops her head from bowing and stands her upright. "We're here…" was all he said as he walks past her and down the spotless white hall. He taps his fist on the door, Tohru behind him now, and it slowly opens. Shishou stood before him, smiling almost as brightly as the hallways were.

"Come in! Come in!" He exclaims, opening the door wider.

Kagura's attention was on the people walking into her hospital room. Slowly, but certainly, she recognizes them as Kyo and Tohru. "KYOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She exclaims, jumping at him from her bed. His body slams against the wall as she lands on his chest. She was acting more like a cat then he ever does. Kagura nestles into his chest, her legs wrapped around his body. "I MIISSSSSSED YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!" She begins to pound her fists into his head hard. His forehead began to bleed a little and she stopped. Tohru's eyes were wide, she didn't think she'd ever get used to Kagura beating up Kyo to show her love for him. "Who did this to you!" She exclaims; he was on the ground now, she was sitting on him, petting his head.

"You did…" Kyo mumbles in annoyance. "You really did heal, huh?" He says quietly trying to pull away from her. Eventually she gets off of him and smiles down towards him. Slowly, with help from Kazuma and Tohru, he gets to his feet and leans against the wall. "Are you ready to go home?" He mutters under his breath, looking down at the ground. Tohru smiles at the two of them.

"HOME! YES! LET'S GO!" Kagura yells, grabbing Kyo's hand and flying out the door. Kazuma and Tohru chased after her telling her to stop running. She skids to a stop and lets go of Kyo's hand. His body was lying on the ground since she was dragging him along.

He slowly gets to his feet, Kazuma and Tohru standing behind him. "Look here Kagura, if you don't let me walk and if you cling to me at all, I wont bring you to Shigure's house!" Kyo says, he was obviously angry at the fact that she was dragging him around after it was he who decided to come and pick her up. Tohru rubs a wet rag on his forehead and the bleeding stops. He glances at her a little, and gets red in the face, looking at Kagura. She smiles at him and nods in agreement.

They all left the hospital quickly, except Kazuma who they deserted so that he would have to pay the hospital bill. The three of them reach Shigure's home after walking through the forest for thirty minutes because of them stopping many times. Once Tohru and Kagura made him stop to look at flowers, then to admire the stream, and then climb the trees with his cautious watch. Kyo slides Shigure's front door open and walks in being followed by Tohru and Kagura who were very cheerful now.

Kagura sat on the couch in the living room, and dropped sideways to lie down on it. Slowly, she gazes at Kyo and Tohru who were talking. She couldn't tell about what, but he was laughing a little, his head tilted to one side gently. Sighing, she closes her eyes and pretends to be asleep.

"I'm gonna go out for some groceries with Yuki-kun!" Tohru exclaims before leaving the house with Yuki.

Her eyes sputter open and she looks around. "KYOOOOOOO!" Kagura calls happily.

He comes down the stairs and walks into the living room and looks at her. "Yeah?" Kyo says quietly, coming closer, and sitting in a chair to the right of the couch. The house was empty other then the two of them. Katsuro was playing in the backyard a little, and Shigure had left to go and talk to his editor. "Whatcha need?" He asks sounding fairly annoyed. Possibly, he didn't get enough sleep the night before. No doubt he had been worrying about both her and Tohru.

"I need to ask you something Kyo-kun…" she begins and sits up a little, to look at him. He nods a little and stares at her wonderingly. Clearly, he was confused about what she wanted to ask, and what it included that she wanted to know. "Do you… love Tohru-chan?" Her question sputtered out of her mouth quickly and Kyo's eyes grew wide.

**_I do… don't I? She's all I really care about…. I love her. I love her. I love her. But …. Telling Kagura this will upset her wont it? Or maybe she doesn't mind… is that why she was asking?_** He thought all of this in a matter of seconds. Questioning his choice of words in his mind. Slowly, he gets up and walks to her, looking down to meet her eyes. She stands up and looks up into his eyes. "I don't want you to be mad at me Kagura…." He mutters then turns to walk away. She quickly grabs his hand and jerks him to the side to make him look at her. Kagura places an expression on her face to try and explain that nothing he will say would upset her. "Yes Kagura…" he began slowly, "I… I think I do love Tohru…" Kyo pulls his hand from her's and walks out of the living room, standing at the threshold, he places his head against it, his hands covering the sides of his face.

She gets up and walks to him. Placing her hand on his back, she pats it gently. Tears drip down his cheeks and onto the floor. "Kyo…are you upset that you love Tohru…" she asks sounding as if she was confused. "Does she not love you back?" Her next question came almost out of nowhere.

His eyes got a little bigger, tears dampening his cheeks a little. "I'm… upset because… if I don't beat Yuki…" he began. This time what he was saying caught Kagura by surprise. She didn't have any clue where he was going with all of this. "If I don't beat that damn rat… then… I'll be locked away for the rest of my life." He turns a little and looks at her. "I'll never be able to tell her how I feel, Kagura…." He says in a normal tone.

As he was saying this, Tohru was walking into the house. She heard the last part and her eyes got a little wide. **_Was… he talking about me? Does… he love me? Or… does he hate me? Does he love me like I love him? _**Her mind races a little in slight confusion. Yuki was standing at her side and heard exactly what she heard. He was showing just as much confusion as she was. They walk into the living room.

Kyo quickly wipes the tears off his face and looks at them. "What took you two so long!" He yells trying to sound extremely irritated. A smile rose in Kagura's heart. She knew whatever he was about to say, would be a little mean against her, but none of it was meant. "I've been stuck in this damn house with her!" He waves his finger at her angrily. Then, he ran past them all and went upstairs at a fast pace. Entering his room, he shuts the door behind him and leans against it, sliding down until he was sitting against it. "Does… she know? Did she hear what I said?" he asks himself, as he was the only person in the room. He stares at his bed, seeming very upset. It seems as though nothing ever turns out the way he wants it to. There wasn't anything he wanted more then to tell her himself, or not tell her at all. He didn't want her to find out this way. It makes him feel as though he is a wimp. And that wasn't the case. Kyo was just too embarrassed to say it around others, even though many people already knew by the way he acted around her.

As if on command, Tohru gently pushes against the door trying to get in. "Kyo-kun?" She says quietly, getting in just barely. She looks at the ground and sees Kyo sitting against the door. Kneeling down, Tohru smiles at him and places her hand on his. "Kyo-kun… what's wrong?" asks Tohru sounding sincerely concerned.

Slowly, he gets up, making sure he doesn't step on her fingers. Walking past her he takes his shirt off, leaving him in a white tee shirt, and he lies on his bed, head in his pillow. She walks over to his bed and sits down on it. Her knees under her as she looks down at his head. There was something about the way he was acting today that couldn't help but make her feel really concerned. Carefully, she places her hand on the back of his head, and runs her fingers through his hair gently. "Kyo-kun… tell me why you are upset…." She whispers, leaning her head close to his lips so that he can hear her. His ear twitches a little and he turns over gently. Kyo stares at her in slight confusion.

"I'm fine… get out…" he says quietly, trying to sound as nice as he possibly could.

She looks at him and sighs, stepping off his bed. He watches her head to the door. Quickly he rolls off his bed and runs to the door. Slamming it shut, Kyo places himself in front of her. "Tohru…." He says quietly, looking down at her. She looks back at him, gazing into his eyes.

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**Thanks:**

**Ultimate-Furuba-Freak: **Thanks again! Not sure why you were happy about Tohru getting hurt, but, lol. Okay haha. Here's that next chapter! And I'm glad to see that you love this story so much! It makes me happy! I'll try to make it longer, but… instead of adding to this one, I may just make a sequel, I don't know. I just gotta see how this one works out and how it ends.


	15. Fall Upon Confession

**Chapter 15: Fall Upon Confession

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba… and I probably never will.**

**This is most likely the chapter all Kyo x Tohru lovers have been waiting for. Or… maybe it isn't… dun dun dun! I seriously love the chapter now. It has a lot of meaning further in the chapter!

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The moment their eyes met, the both of them got red from blushing. Kyo was fishing for the words in his throat. He couldn't find what he was about to say. It was as though he was suddenly speechless.**

"Yes Kyo-kun?" She asks as she sees that he wasn't saying anything. When she had heard her name just seconds ago, he sounded as if it was very important. Tohru was getting more and more curious by the moment. Every second that passed that he didn't say anything, made her even more eager. "Is… there something you wanted to ask me, Kyo?" Her tone of voice changed slowly, she wanted to know, but she didn't want to force it out of him, she sounded very soothing.

He continues to stare into her eyes; Kyo was still at a loss for words. Feeling her hand take hold of his, he shakes his head and looks at her hand. It was as though he was in a trance when he was looking at her. Not pulling his hand away he lifts his head back up to meet her eyes once more. "T-Tohru…." He says again, feeling almost breathless.

Unknowingly, Yuki was standing outside his door, in his rat form from him getting so nervous. His ear was gently pressing against Kyo's door, once again, he was eavesdropping on someone. But this time, with her and Kyo alone in a room together, he was under the assumption that he would finally tell Tohru how he feels before he, Yuki, got the chance to. The feeling of barging in before Kyo got anything out of his mouth ran through his veins at an extremely quick pace. His little rat hands push against the door gently, trying to open it a bit.

Carefully, Kyo brings his other hand up and places it on Tohru's shoulder. He smiles at her, seeming somewhat happy and more then likely, nervous. She returns his smiles with her very own cheerful one. "Maybe, Kyo…. Maybe I should go first. " Tohru tilts her head a little, eyes closed as she smiles brightly.

"Okay." Was all Kyo says as she reopens her eyes and moves a little closer.

Looking down for a moment, she lifts her head back up to look at him. "Kyo-kun… I didn't think I'd ever…" she stops for a moment and sees that his eyes were slowly becoming a little glazy. A gentle smile crosses her face and she steps a little closer. On impulse, he steps back and looks at her. Tohru continues to smile, then stops and continues on, "Love anyone… as much as I do… but…" Tohru pauses again and he was beginning to look very anxious.

"But… you like Yuki don't you…" he says quietly, looking down at the ground. Inside him he couldn't help but be furious. She tilts her head and stares at him softly. He kept his head down, flames getting ready to flare up in his chest. He had good reason to hate Yuki all these years, and now, another was added. His hand drops from her shoulder and he walks over to the window in his room. He slides it open.

She reaches out to grab him, but before she was able to grab his shirt he was already opening the window. Finally, she looks down and tears began to swell up inside of her. "KYO!" She yells desperately. "I love you…not Yuki-kun!" Hearing this Kyo slowly turns around and stares at her. Tears were already rolling down his cheek in tiny spheres. She smiles at him and moves her feet to walk closer to him. He was breathing slightly harder then she had ever seen. Clearly he was too nervous to ever say anything, even though he was the one that stopped her from leaving his room.

Yuki stood at the door, still in his rat form. He sighs sadly and suddenly changes back into his human state. Quickly, as if rushing, he puts his clothes on and continues to listen at the door. He couldn't understand why she would love him and not he. It didn't seem right. He was the one that from the beginning respected her. **_I made sure I took care of her. Wasn't Kyo the one that cut her forehead with a table in anger by throwing his fist through it? Wasn't it Kyo that hurt her feelings so many times by talking to her wrongly? How could she choose him over me? Other then the fact that I see her more as a mother I never had… I love her more then anything and everything. How… why… why is she choosing him? Is there something better about him?_** Yuki asks himself all these questions in his thoughts. He couldn't believe what was going on. The words that had so smoothly flowed from her mouth were hurting him now. It was the first time in a very long time that Yuki was jealous of Kyo. The last, and still current jealousy is the fact that Kyo can adjust well to his surroundings and make friends quicker then him.

Slowly, Kyo walks towards Tohru until he is exactly a foot away. He looks down at her and places his hand on the side of her face, running his hand down so his fingers run gently through her hair. "I… l-l…la… love you too…" he stutters finding himself almost unable to say the word 'love'.

At the sound of Kyo's voice, Yuki found himself sighing deeply, in a very solemn way. He slowly walks off to his own room, and slams the door behind him as he enters it. For the reason of Kyo telling Tohru how he feels, he felt his hatred for him growing enormously. Carefully he lies on his bed and stares at the ceiling full of despise and sadness.

As if in fear, Kyo leans in, about to kiss her on the lips. Tohru, knowing exactly what he was about to do closes her eyes and waits. Suddenly she hears him take a step back and look at her sadly. Her eyes open and stare at him curiously. "Wha… What's wrong Kyo-kun?" She asks wondering if she was doing something wrong.

He wipes his face with the back of his hand, the feeling of weakness ripped at his hard like a lion at it's pray. How was he going to tell her this? As if being locked away at the end of the school year wasn't enough, he'd have to admit something else to her now. So much in life can block your path. Barriers, fences, gates, people… When you feel as though you are so close, and nothing and no one can stop you, you end up running face first into an invisible wall that has always seemed to be there. Everything is always within your grasp until you mentally or physically find something to stop you. This time there was more then just one thing stopping Kyo from being with Tohru. One was the fact that he would soon be locked away unless he miraculously beats Yuki, which he had actually almost given up trying, and two was the fact that there was something he should have told her the day he remembered it. The day he realized it was her. He hears her whisper his name once more. He looks at her, and another tear rolls out of his eye and onto the floor before him. "Tohru… I'm so sorry…." He whispers sadly. "It's all my fault… that… you've been so sad…." Kyo adds making Tohru look at him with an even more confused expression. He shakes his head gently and decides to finally just spit it out. "TOHRU! IT'S MY FAULT YOUR MOTHER DIED!" He drops to his knees and stares at the ground, pounding his fist into the floor extremely mad at himself. At his choices from the past. "When I was younger…. I knew your mom Tohru…" Kyo says through his tears. "She made me promise to take care of you if anything ever happened… and… I happened. I ran into the middle of the road… HER CAR SWERVED" He yells dropping his head against the ground. "I'm so sorry…." He chokes out almost crying more then earlier.

She stares at him, almost in disbelief. Everything he had just said was beginning to confuse her… but make her sad at the same instant. Slowly, she walks over to him and kneels down in front of him. She looks at him sorrowfully and lifts his head up by his chin, her finger under it. "Kyo-kun… it's not your fault… it…" tears began to drip from her eyes now, "Don't blame yourself… you were younger then." She gently buries her face in his shoulder. She was crying into his almost bare shoulder since he was wearing a sleeveless tee shirt. "You… You can take care of me… just like my mother made you promise Kyo-kun!" She says through her tears; as if her voice wasn't muffled enough by having her face in his shoulder, but it was getting sore from all the talking they've been doing. Suddenly, his other hand touches the back of her head and holds her head on his shoulder. Since they weren't too close to embracing, he didn't transform. "Kyo… I … I love you too much to let something that happened a while ago to come between us. I bet my mom forgives you…." Tohru whispers to him quietly, her tears gradually subsiding.

He rests his head against the top of her's gently. "I hope so Tohru…" he mutters softly, kissing her head. She blushes a little and hugs him, her arms under his arms. Almost four minutes later he finally transforms into his cat form and purrs, nestling into her arms.

"Kyo…." She smiles and kisses his forehead. "You should go to bed now…. I'll… see you tomorrow. I'm going to go downstairs and take care of Katsuro." Tohru smiles at him and lays on him his bed and places his clothes on top of him. Petting his head gently she leaves his room slowly as if at any moment she'd run back to him and continue to spill out her emotions. She felt, now, that she could literally tell Kyo everything and anything she wanted. She now knew that she was in love with someone that cares about her very deeply. Suddenly, she comes to a stop just at the edge of the staircase. **_I wonder what Uo-chan and Hana-chan will say when I tell them that I love Kyo and that he loves me…._** For now, she was going to put those thoughts on hold and ask Kyo some other time if he would mind her telling Arisa and Saki. Carefully, she makes her way downstairs and sees Katsuro playing _Dai Hin Min_ with Haru who had come over without notice. Approaching them a smile gently crosses her face and she sits down beside Katsuro. He was at her bedside the whole time while she was hurt over the vacation to see if she needed anything while anyone else was out. Katsuro was gradually adjusting to life without parents, but he just acts as if they were his family and Tohru and Kyo were his parents.

After a few more turns in the game it ended and Haru and Katsuro begin to insist upon her playing with them. Haru, without saying anything or showing that he knew, was able to tell that Tohru was crying earlier. But… something about her dully-damp face was telling him it was nothing to worry about. They played for nearly an hour before she had to stop and go into the kitchen to make dinner.

At the kitchen table sat Shigure who was on the phone talking to his editor again. She giggles a little while she's making dinner being able to hear what the editor was saying since Shigure had the phone on speaker. "Yes… Yes… you keep telling me about the deadline…" he says sighing a little.

"YOUR THREE MONTHS PAST YOUR DEADLINE SIR! PLEASE! WRITE! I'LL GO OVER THERE AND HAND YOU A PEN!" She exclaims pleading with him. He waves his hands around as if she could see she says, "Your hands….they're moving!" her voice was almost expressing astonishment. Shigure slaps his forehead and presses the 'off' button on the phone.

Sighing a little he glances at Tohru. "Ah.. Toh-ruuu!" He says almost singing out her name. She smiles and looks at him wondering what he was going to say. He gets to his feet and walks over to her, opening the refrigerator to pull out a half empty package of fish and container of left over fried rice. "How is that dumb old cat?" Shigure asks curiously, noticing a few different things about Tohru. She was looking even more happy (imagine that) then usual. It was as if almost nothing could upset her. **_What did Kyo-kun say? _**He asks himself curiously.

"You mean Kyo-kun!" She says almost sounding angry, but then again, maybe she was just trying to cut the fish that Shigure had taken out of the fridge. "He's doing fine…" Then, without warning, she stops and drops the knife on the ground incidentally. "I'm so sorry Shigure-kun…" she says quickly, the knife sticking out of the kitchen floor.

He waves his hand slightly and says, "It's okay Tohru-chan!" There was something he was hiding now, and if she found out everything could possibly get crazy. Especially if she was to tell Kyo about what he knew. It slowly came to his mind that Yuki had to have known by now. By the way Akito brutally beat him, it must have been about him questioning her decisions. A smooth grin appears across his face and he leaves the kitchen without so much as helping Tohru get the knife out of the floor.

She watches him leave in complete suspicion. There was definitely something he was hiding from everyone. And, no sooner had Shigure left the room, did Yuki walk into the kitchen and tug the knife out of the ground and place it in the sink. A soft smile crosses his face and he walks to the table and sits down in a chair. "So… you like Kyo…." He says practically out of nowhere.

In utter surprise, she looks at him and tried to decipher his expression. **_Was… he listening in on our conversation…? _**She asks herself in her confused thoughts. Slowly she stops frying the fish and turns the stove off, carefully slipping into a chair across from Yuki. "Were you… listening to me and Kyo talking…" she asks curiously. He sighs and stares down at the table becoming very ashamed. Sighing as well she adds quietly, "It's okay." Then, she comes to the conclusion that she will answer his question. "Yes… I like Kyo-kun…" her voice trails off as she sees Kagura walk into the kitchen and sit between the both of them. Clearly she must have been able to hear what Tohru said but it was as though she wasn't paying attention when she heard Kyo's name spoken.

Kagura looks at Tohru and smiles happily. "He told me… just before you got home Tohru-chan." She didn't sound the way Tohru had expected she would upon hearing that Kyo didn't love her and instead loved Tohru. "I'm happy for both of you. You're so lucky Tohru-chan. He's so nice after a while. It … just takes him a little while. " Kagura says this trying to act as though none of them except her knew this. She truly was very happy for them. It was as though she knew that as much as she was to try, Kyo would always love Tohru and choose to be only her friend and not her love. "I envy you Tohru-chan!" She says making the both of them laugh. They joked around a little after that, leaving Yuki to just sit there as if he were invisible. Though, whenever Tohru spoke to him he ignored the both of them.

Quietly, Tohru gets up from the chair she was originally seated in and walks back to the stove and continues to cook the fish, putting the rice in another bowl and into the microwave. The fish began to softly sizzle, the sound making Kagura's ear twitch a little, making her giggle quietly and slowly walk out of the room saying an almost silent, 'Good-bye' to Tohru.

The food was on the table set up in seven separate plates neatly. Haru and Kagura were over so they ate as well. Katsuro was permanently staying there unless he was to decide otherwise. All of them ate peacefully, not a word flung at anyone. Katsuro was very polite to everyone as always. From right to left around the table sat: Shigure at the head of the table, Yuki, Kagura, Katsuro, Tohru, Kyo, and at the opposite end of the head of the table was Haru. Each of them eventually got out and either dumped the food they didn't finish into the garbage, or just placed the plate in the sink after cleaning it off. Either way, the plates went into the sink to be later cleaned that night by Tohru and most likely the very helpful people: Katsuro and Kagura.

Kyo sat on the roof, staring out at the sky calmly. His left leg was pulled up a little so his foot was placed completely on shingles of the roof; his other leg however was completely outstretched in front of him. A soft smile leapt onto his face until he saw someone circling the area in the trees.

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**I wonder if I just made this chapter end in a slight Cliff Hanger. I don't know. But nonetheless I hope everyone enjoyed. It took me a while to begin this chapter. Have no fear as I obviously finished! Mwahhaha! And I got like five reviewers to thank that reviewed my 14th chapter! I'm curious… does anyone even like the chapter titles I choose? (laughs) Oh, and this is the most reviews I've ever gotten on a chapter! Yesh!

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**Thanks:**

**Tohruismyoneechan: **Exciting huh? Thank god I changed the genre to Romance and Suspense, ha ha. Well, here's that update! Please enjoy and continue to R&R

**Ultimate-Furuba-Freak:** Thanks again for another review! And … someone is a little set on making me type a Sequel, lol. Its Precious! Lol. Wow… Oh, and I can't believe I don't get more reviews too! (Laughs)

**Purejoy:** Yes… Yes… the dreadful cliffie appeared! I'm sorry about that, I just felt it was the perfect way to end the 14th chapter so that I can pretty much type whatever I felt like in the 15th. I think this one sorta ends in a cliffhanger… not sure really. Thank you for enjoying this story so much! Please continue to R&R

**KCscooter:** Thank you as well, lol. And you are definitely another person that wants a Sequel. What am I going to do with you and Ultimate-Furuba-Freak….. :thinks: Okay… I guess I'm going to type a sequel. I should come up with the name now. And this chapter is what happens next! WoOT!

**K40Sohma:** Whoa…. Lots of 'No No No'. Ash-chan…. You sound like Tohru when she repeatedly…. Um… repeats herself, lol. Well! You didn't have to wait long cause this is chapter 15! Lol. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story; please continue to R&R

**YoukaiOnigiri: **Get this… I finished this chapter at 12 Wednesday night! Lol. I couldn't stop typing! Don't worry…. we all hate the gender bender known as Akito. It's like a permanent feeling (laughs). Continue to R&R. And I love the Kyo X Tohru pairing. For some reason when I type these chapters… I feel like they get a lot of depth….


	16. Follow the Darkness

**Chapter 16: Follow The Darkness

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****Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba…still.**

**People that are interested in the 4min Transformation thing, read the very end of the chapter where the bold print little segment thing is. Just above the 'Thanks' section!

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Kyo kept his eyes on the figure that was circling the trees around Shigure's house. He lays forward on the roof, peeking down below, his hands tightly gripping the edge of the roof as he looks around. Suddenly, Shigure walks out of the house in the dark night. Kyo watches him approach the circling figure and smile at it. Cautiously, he pulls himself a little closer to the edge to see if he could hear them talking better.**

"Did you tell that monster yet?" A familiar woman's voice asks, a half smirk on her face. Clearly, Kyo thought, it's Akito. Seeing Shigure shake his head, Akito's smirk turns to a frown. "Well… if you haven't told him already, don't tell him at all…" Her voice trails off as she lifts her hand and slides the back of it down his left cheek. "Good by Shigure…" She begins to walk off back into the forest.

"Good night Akito-san!" He calls, trying not to be too loud about it.

Kyo continues to stare down at them. Something came over him. Fear, anxiety, the weak feeling of forever being alone, and the annoyed sense of hearing Akito speaking about him. He had no clue what it was they were discussing. But obviously it was being kept from him and he'd never know. After seeing Shigure re-enter the house, he leaps down from the roof, landing slightly hard on his feet. He lets out a quiet yelp and then runs into the forest swiftly, searching around for Akito. The sight of completely nothing began to scare him; he started to think of how he could compare this darkness to the room he'll be locked away in. A quick shiver runs up his spine and he stops in his tracks. Looking around almost frantically, he sees a figure standing just ahead of him. He couldn't bring himself to move from the spot he was standing in, even when he saw the dark figure begin to walk towards him. Staring back at it, Kyo's eyes began to grow wide when he found himself standing face to face with Akito for the first time since the night they were heading home from school.

Out of nowhere, Akito slams her fist into Kyo's stomach, he lunges forward, his head landing on her shoulder; he was gasping for air, arms wrapped around his stomach. Akito grabs him by the back of the head and throws him against a tree. Walking towards Kyo, she stares down at him, slight laughter almost overcoming the pitch-black darkness. "I saw you on the roof, you evil little monster you…" She says growling at him a little.

The trees around them were all still; there was no flowing wind that allowed Kyo easy breaths. He stumbles against the tree and staggers to his feet quickly, looking at Akito fearfully. The sky seemed to have not one star, it was just an all black blanket up there now. Nothing in the forest made even the slightest sound. All anyone could hear if they were in the area was Kyo getting hit and Akito talking to him like he was trash.

Akito laughs and places her hands at her hips. "Are you honestly that curious about what me and Shigure were talking about?" She asks trying to mock him to the best of her abilities. He stares at her as if he had nothing left to live for. "How about… you let me take you now. The cage is all ready for you… all you have to do is enter it and you'll be locked in." Akito offers; a happy grin crossing her face as the darkness consumed the both of them.

Taking a step towards Akito, Kyo bows his head sadly. He couldn't believe what he was doing. Finally, he lifts his head up and stares at Akito, who was only a foot away from him now. "I'll… come now…." He sighs deeply and meets Akito's eyes. "You… were right… I can't beat Yuki. The cat… can't ever beat the rat…" Kyo adds as he begins to force himself to face the sad truth. "The cat can never be happy can he…" he mumbles and walks to Akito's side, and glances at her. "You must be glad to hear me saying this… aren't you?" He asks in slight irritation, even though there was enough distressed feelings in his body that he couldn't even bring himself to say any more.

Akito sneers at him and slaps him across the face. "Good boy… now keep walking…" she says quickly as she begins to walk, making sure Kyo was following close behind. Every now and then she'd take a glance back at him to make sure he was still there and didn't attempt to slip away from her tight grasp on his mind.

He kept his head down, full of sorrow. Kyo still couldn't piece what he was doing together. It was even surprising him. Was it really that true that this would be the best thing for him as Akito always said?**_ I can't go on living as the monster I am, can I? Even if I ever try to fight Yuki again, I'd only lose once more. I really can't beat him. And… It's not fair…_** His mind slowly raced around. Continuing to follow Akito, they stop on the other side of the street, not that he was aware they ever crossed one. Many bushes began to rustle as they reached the entrance to the Main Sohma estate.

Turning around lightly, Akito glares at Kyo and grabs him by the wrist tossing him to the ground on the property the Sohma's owned. She begins to viciously beat him by kicking him repeatedly in the side and his legs. Slowly she sits down on his chest and begins to furiously pound him in the face with her fists. He was yelling in pain as they sat in the middle of the road that led out of the Sohma Residence. She continued to hit him over and over again. Blood splattering all over her clothes as well as his, even some on the street. Kyo's nose was bleeding, he had enormous bruises on both sides of his body, and he felt as though he couldn't move any part of his body. Haru and Momiji, who had miraculously awoken after hearing all that racket, eventually pulled Akito off of him. Kyo looked to be on the verge of death, Akito was laughing madly even though only Haru was holding her back now; Momiji on the other hand was kneeling helplessly at Kyo's side in sheer fright. He stares at the cuts on Kyo's face and the blood dripping from his nose, lip, and a laceration in his right ear.

"Kyo…" Momiji whispers hoping he was still conscious. "Answer me Kyoooo." He calls now, tears swelling in his own eyes. "Akito-san… why did you do this to him…?" Momiji asks turning around to stare at Akito even though he was still on his knees. "How could you hurt him like this!" He exclaims now getting to his feet. Nothing was stopping Akito from laughing; she wasn't prepared to answer someone that is questioning her, let alone someone in her family. Turning back around, Momiji sees two people standing at the opening of the Sohma Estate. His eyes began to glow happily recognizing the faces. It was Tohru and Yuki. (**a.n**: Katsuro is at home with Shigure). He runs to them and only notices that Tohru ran past him and dropped to her knees beside Kyo's badly injured body.

She rests her head on his chest, bits of blood getting on her face and in her hair. Tears filled her eyes but she held them back. She had to be strong for him now since he was the one that was hurt. Looking up at his bruised and bleeding face she couldn't help but let a tear roll down her cheek. "Kyo-kun…." She grabs his hand and pulls him to his feet gently. Quickly, Tohru hugs him and -just like before- it took about four minutes for him to transform. After he had, she gathers him and his clothes up in her arms. She nestles her head gently into his back. "We're… going home Kyo-kun…" whispers Tohru quietly as she kisses his fur ignoring the dry blood on him. Slowly, she walks back to Yuki, giving Momiji a gentle smile. Stopping beside Yuki, she nods a little and leaves, heading back to Shigure's home.

Akito pulls out of Haru's grasp and runs towards the entrance/exit. "GET BACK HERE YOU WITCH!" She exclaims, and then soon enough, Yuki stops Akito. "Let go of me Yuki…" When she sees he isn't moving, she backs up and turns around, heading back to Kureno who was standing under a broken light in the Estate. Haru and Momiji go home as well, waving good-bye to Yuki before disappearing into the darkness of the Sohma property.

Yuki ends up leaving quickly; meeting Tohru at a bench they agreed to catch up with each other at if they got separated. They began to walk back to Shigure's house, Tohru nestling her cheek into Kyo's furry head. Neither of them said a thing until they got back inside to see Shigure paying completely no attention to an utterly bored Katsuro.

**x**

Sighing, arms folded across her chest, each hand in the opposite sleeve of the kimono she was wearing. Kureno was walking beside her quietly. Akito instantly broke the silence on the way back to their home. "I was so close to having my way with that monster Kureno. You wouldn't believe that he actually agreed to be locked away. He admitted that he couldn't beat Yuki." She lifts her hand out of her intertwined kimono sleeves and laughs into it. Kureno blankly nods, listening to every word she said. "But… my own family went against me, my dear Kureno. They stopped me. Momiji and Haru…. You must force it into their heads as hard as possible, that they will never disrupt my choices or actions ever again." They enter the house, and the last thing Kureno did before following her into the building was nod.

After going inside, Kureno sits down in a chair at the bedside Akito was laying lightly in. It was as though all the swings of her fists, and kicks of her feet had made her completely exhausted. Her eyes were shut and she was asleep in no time. Kureno soon feel into a deep dream state still sitting in the chair beside Akito's bed.

**x**

Tohru lays Kyo on his bed once again. She smiles at him sadly, resting his clothes beside him once more. It was already two times today that she's had to put him back in his bed after making him transform. This time she had a good reason though. He was injured and appeared to be unable to walk. It was something that, at the time, she was forced to do mentally. The other time it was out of selfishness, she placed all of her love into the hug she gave him much early in the day. But one thing came to her mind… **_Why was Kyo-kun in the Main Sohma Estate…? What… was he going to do..?_** She couldn't think of any possible reasons at the moment. It was nearly ten at night and after today there would be only a day left until school resumes on the coming Monday.

She walks into her room, closing the door to Kyo's room behind her. His room was completely dark and he was totally knocked out from exhaustion and pain. The next day, she'll have to tend to all of the wounds Akito inflicted upon his body. Her eyes closed as she lies in her bed, cozily beside Katsuro who was turned every which way, it was just like a little child to do that. She smiles at him. "Good night Katsuro-chan…" Tohru whispers to him even though he was fast asleep.

Yuki was again still awake at this time, sitting in the living room quietly with Shigure, who was actually sitting at a desk that was against the wall, clicking away on a typewriter. It was almost a shock to Yuki, so in any case he stood up and walked up behind Shigure so softly that the clicking of the typewriter keys was louder then his own footsteps. Leaning forward, over his shoulder, he places his head to the exact left side of Shigure's. His head was perfectly aligned with his so it was going to extremely startle him if he ever took his eyes off the keyboard that was connected to the machine. Turning his head finally he falls backward and lands on the ground still in his chair, Shigure's hands were tightly gripping the armrests.

Looking down him with a laughing grin, Yuki stands still, not showing even the slightest sign of offering any help. He watches Shigure get up and fix the chair, then shoot him an questioning expression. "What is Akito planning Shigure! Why did she hurt Kyo like that?" Yuki begins to ask, one question after another.

"Yuki… she's not planning anything-." Yuki quickly shoves him into the desk, it snaps down the middle, and the typewriter drops, shattering on the ground the moment it makes impact. "Yu- Yuki!" He exclaims extremely surprised at how he has been acting lately. Shigure staggers to his feet once more and stares at Yuki in almost pure anger. "You shouldn't talk the way you do about Akito-san…And… since when do you care if Kyo is hurt physically or mentally?" asks Shigure, a slight grin appearing on the face as the shadows of the night clouded his face so that Yuki couldn't see.

He glances at the ground then back at Shigure. "I don't care if Kyo is hurt in anyway. But it does bother me to see that Honda-san is in pain whenever he is." Yuki sighs a little as he speaks, remembering the painful expression that Tohru had when she saw Kyo so badly hurt and practically paralyzed on the ground. "Just… tell me whatever you know about Akito's plans…." He whispers to him, bowing his head slightly.

Shigure nods and walks up to Yuki, the evil-like grin vanishing from his face the moment he had the chance to rid himself of it. Placing his hands on Yuki's shoulders gently, he watches him lift his head up. Meeting his eyes, he too sighs a little. "Yuki-kun….I have something to tell you….." His voice trails off as he began his sentence. What words came next could change the next and last two months of school… for all of them.

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**Wow…I really enjoyed typing this chapter. Don't get me wrong, I hate seeing Kyo get hurt, but this had to be done, I'm sorry. But everything from the, I think 6th chapter on, has complete meaning somewhere, even if it isn't clear. This chapter is a very big part of the story. And to those of who that want to know why it took Kyo 4 whole minutes to transform… that will be answered in about 2 more chapters! Chapter 18 may be the most long awaited chapter!**

**Thanks! To all My Reviewers, since of course most of you have been informed about the new rule, I cannot respond to your reviews until it is somehow changed or something. But I do read each of your reviews and I thank you very much!**


	17. A Fear Come True

**Chapter 17: A Fear Come True

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba.

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The words gently dripped out of Shigure's mouth as if it was something Yuki was longing to know. And, to be honest, it was. He was too curious to wait until that day to know the answer to a certain question. "Akito-san… she's…" he stops seeing a slight expression of joy and fright on Yuki's face at the same instant. "She's coming to graduation…." He says finally, watching Yuki's face drop to an angry one. "Look Yuki, we can't change her mind. It's her decision after all. We can't do anything about it…" his voice trails off, sounding more like he preferred Akito going to the graduation because of things he knew.

Growling at Shigure in sheer irritation, Yuki turns around slowly, glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. "You sound happy about it…." He mumbles.

Walking away from him gradually, approaching the stairs. Carefully, he walks up the steps, reaching the second level, and finally enters his bedroom. Dropping himself into a chair he stares at a calendar above his bed. The day after tomorrow would be their next school day. He realizes after a short period of thought, that he will be getting questioned many times about how Kyo got hurt so badly. No doubt Kyo would be asked just as much, possibly even more. He leans back in his chair and sighs. Gently, he looks up at the ceiling and gets pulled into a strong trance in his deep thoughts. **_How… will Kyo react when I tell him that Akito will be at their graduation? Will he worry more about being locked away or will he worry about what Ms. Honda is thinking, and how she feels? Is there… a way to have Kyo beat me… without me throwing the match? Hopefully, he'll be able to study more Martial Arts and stuff with Shishou… But… the vision of Ms. Honda being upset about Kyo leaving will… bring pain to me wont it. _**His head felt like it was spinning. Once again, he got to the thought that too much was happening at once and he wasn't sure if Kyo and Tohru were thinking the same.

Without realizing it, his eyes slammed shut as he lost himself thinking. No longer awake, Yuki began to dream of frightful things. He saw people being killed in front of him, which forced him awake five times in the middle of the night. After that long period of time sleeping, he awoke extremely early in the morning, which was actually not that early, but for him it was.

It was nearly seven in the morning and Kyo, Tohru, and an incredibly tired Katsuro were sitting at the kitchen table talking a little. Katsuro and Tohru both had equal expressions of sadness as they saw the bandages all over Kyo. There was one wrapped all around his stomach, there were long pieces of gauze on both of his arms, and a bandage around his forehead, pushing the front of his hair up a little. His bottom lip had a slight laceration on the left side, and Hatori stitched his right ear up in the middle of the night. By now, of course, his nose had stopped bleeding. Yuki watches all of them speak to each other, noticing that Kyo was attempting to assure them that he'd soon be in good health.

Finally, he walks into the kitchen and is greeted by a reasonably happy Tohru. "Good morning Yuki-kun!" She exclaims smiling at him a little. He nods slightly and sits down in an empty chair, opposite of Tohru and Katsuro. At the head of the table, farthest from Yuki, sat Kyo. There was a rather large bruise under his left eye and another one on the right side of his neck.

Glancing at Kyo a little, Yuki sighs knowing that Kyo has the right to know what is going on. Standing up once more, he stares at him now, and approaches him quickly. "Kyo… I have to talk to you…" he whispers quietly, trying to make sure the other two don't hear him, since, of course, he didn't want them worrying even more then they already were.

Almost glaring at him, Kyo decides to get up and follow Yuki to a room down the hall. He closes it instantly making Kyo becoming a little confused at what was going on. "What is it Yuki!" He exclaims in pure annoyance.

"Kyo…" Yuki pauses after saying his name. It was almost like he was afraid to go on because he knew that his reaction could possibly hurt either one of them. "Look, I know this may make you angry…" Suddenly he finds himself being cut off by Kyo.

"If… it's going to make me angry," Kyo began after stopping Yuki in the middle of a sentence, "Then why the hell are you trying to tell me anything!" His voice grew louder as he actually began to carefully become infuriated.

Sighing, Yuki ignores each of Kyo's words and continues on. "But, _she_ is coming to graduation…" His voice was as calm and gentle as possible. Maybe it was a false belief, that if you seem comfortable and calm, you can make the other feel the same way. That, of course, was not the case in this current situation.

Kyo's face quickly got pale, as well as the rest of his body. The sight made you believe he had seen a ghost of some type. "_She,_ meaning… Akito…?" He mutters feeling extremely uneasy. The sudden news was making him feel nauseous and it was becoming so bad that he felt as if it wouldn't ever go away. "But… I thought… after last night, she'd not want to come. Not want to see me… or something…" Kyo's horrified voice trails off as he hears someone gently walking down the hallway. He numbly turns around and stares at the door, examining the doorknob as it slowly turns. A knock sound softly rings throughout the room just before the door was to completely open up. An expression of fair relief ripped up and down his heart and in his lungs as well. "Katsuro…. go back inside with Tohru…" he says quietly, looking at the ground since he knew that his face was as pale as a white sheet.

He nods plainly. Kyo could tell when he glanced up at him a little that he was getting even more worried. Quickly he says, "Don't…. tell Tohru about anything you see different about me…okay?" His voice was a little demanding but he couldn't have the two of them worrying at the same time. It just didn't seem fair on any possible level. Watching Katsuro lightly nod and leave the room, Kyo turns back around to look at Yuki. "She's….really going to the graduation…huh…" he mumbles sounding a little sorrowful.

Yuki slowly nods the same way Katsuro had. "Yes Kyo, she's coming. I said that already." He whispers a little moving his feet a little, beginning to walk past him. Kyo tightly grabs his arm were the bend is. "What?" Yuki questions sounding exasperated.

"I'm going to beat you…." Kyo says quietly, not even looking at Yuki. He was just looking straight ahead at where Yuki was when they entered the room. "That way… I won't need to be locked up like you were." Pausing for a moment, he closes his eyes. "When I beat you Yuki, I'll get all the respect I deserve. And, I'll be apart of the Zodiac!" He got a little louder, but not too loud as to allow any one else in the house to hear. His hand drops from his arm and he glances at Yuki as he continues on out of the room. Slowly, he turns around as well and leaves the room, turning to go up the stairs instead of back into the kitchen.

Eventually, after carefully limping up the steps, he reaches his room and lays on his bed weakly. His head was up a little since he had so many pillows on the bed. Kyo stares at the door. The last thing he needed was for Akito to be coming to their graduation. Who knew what she was planning to do to possibly ruin the day. Other then locking him up that is. Sighing, Kyo began to feel as if he already knew his coming fate on the day of everyone's graduation. His life would be canceled out after that day. All he would be allowed to see was the four dark walls surrounding him and Akito. He'd rather die then be alone for all of his life, he didn't consider Akito a living person, she was just there, a person that enjoys tormenting people and stealing their lives just because she wants her family beside her at all times. **_I don't want to become like Kureno, Hatori, and Yuki. They're so quiet… and… act so nice sometimes. Well… Kureno's an exception… but... I don't know anymore._** He thought about how the others that are around Akito twenty- four seven act. Each of them appeared uptight in their own personal ways. But, the most open of the three was almost definitely Yuki, and then Hatori. The only person Kureno actually spoke to these days was Akito, and only Akito.

He folds his hands behind his head, intertwining his fingers gently as he attempts to relax. But, no more then a minute passes until a knock is heard from just outside his door. "Eh…" Kyo groans a little and stares at the door, kicking a small pillow at it from the bed.

Tohru walks in after the pillow hits the door and stares at Kyo, trying to smile even though she thought it impolite to smile when someone is hurt. Nonetheless, it had actually made Kyo smile back. She unhurriedly advances towards him and pulls a chair up to his bed. Taking a seat in it, Tohru places her hand on the edge of the bed and leans towards him. "Are you… um… feeling better? N-Not that you have to be, I … I mean, I want you to feel better… but… that's being selfish isn't it? But you said it's good to complain and be selfish didn't you? A while ago! And… now I'm just going on and on aren't I? I'm getting annoying…" She catches her breath after saying so much to him.

Kyo couldn't help but laugh quietly. He pulls his hands out from behind his head and places his right hand on the hand that she placed on the edge of his bed. Her face quickly got red. She still hadn't gotten used to the fact that they both loved each other. "It's okay. You're not getting annoying." Kyo states gently, his hand closing on her hand a little. "And don't worry, wanting me to get better… isn't selfish." He smiles a little hearing what she said about what he had told her a while ago. "Y-You remember that…." Kyo whispers under his breath. "Only in your case," He began gently, "You can complain and be as selfish as you want. You're completely right. And I still believe that. Complain and be selfish. By all means." His voice was a little raspy since his throat was sort of sore from the large bruise on his neck. "Can you… stay in here tonight?" Kyo asks almost out of nowhere. It caught her by surprise and a nimble smile crosses her face. "Unless… you have plans I mean. You don't _have_ to. But… I don't know… just forget I asked." He shakes his head as he speaks to her, placing his other hand over his face.

"I don't have any plans Kyo-kun." She says sweetly, lifting his hand up, holding it with both hands now. "I can… stay in here if you still want me to." Tohru says faintly so that Kyo could barely hear. Clearly she wasn't too sure about staying in there anymore since he had told her to forget about it.

"If… you want."

She bites her bottom lip gently and looks at Kyo once more, she seemed a bit uneasy. "Would it be okay… if Katsuro stayed in here tonight too?" Tohru asks bowing her head a little. He smiles and nods. From the corner of her a gentle gaze she sees this and stays seated, continuing to smile at him. "Should I stay in here now, too?" She questions softly. It was just curiosity, she was wondering if he only wanted her to stay in the room during the night or during the day as well.

"I can't tell you to stay in here," he chuckles happily, "Go down stairs and have fun with everyone else…." Kyo says to her, resting his head back down on the pillow hesitantly. She nods and gets to her feet releasing his hand gradually. Carefully she leans towards him and kisses his forehead. Her face got beet red, as well as Kyo's. She hurries out of his room and down the steps before either of them got the chance to open their mouth to say anything.

Tohru enters the kitchen where she finds Katsuro eating cereal peacefully. She carefully sits down beside him and pats him on the head gently. He finishes up and smiles at her happily, putting his completely empty bowl in the sink, and then goes back to the table and sits beside her. "Hiya Tohru-chan!" He had said this almost every time he saw her after she left a room. It was as though he wanted to keep track of her so that she wouldn't ever just leave him by himself. The feeling of losing her and his parents somehow in a possible accident of some sort would be even worse for him and just break his heart even more. She hugs him and smiles gently. "Can we go outside and play tag Tohru-chan?" Katsuro asks curiously.

She nods hesitantly, but didn't let it be known by Katsuro that she was afraid that Akito may come back to this area and possibly hurt her just as she hurt Kyo. "Okay, Katsuro-chan!" Tohru takes away her slightly worried expression and replaces it with a playful smile. He grabs her hand and they run out of the house to the front yard.

For many hours they played all sorts of games. Those games included: Tag, hide 'n seek, and playing with an extremely bouncy tennis ball that Tohru had a hard time keeping hold of. They laughed cheerfully whenever they messed up some how. Like, whenever Tohru missed him during tag, Katsuro would let out a light chuckle, and when Katsuro couldn't find Tohru during hide and seek, she too let out a gentle laugh. Of course though, the most laughing was during the time they were playing with the bouncy ball. Each time they missed a catch, they'd crack up laughing almost uncontrollably for no apparent reason.

Yuki sat at his bedroom window the entire time watching them play and joke around in the front yard. It brought a gentle, comforting smile to his sad face. All he could find himself thinking about was the fact that Akito would be coming to their graduation. Suddenly, a stupid idea that Kyo could use to help get him to not be locked up would be to not graduate. If he were to continuously fail in his year, then he wouldn't ever be allowed, let alone be able to, graduate from school. Then again, he knew what kind of loopholes Akito may put into affect. Was there even some kind of contract they signed? Or were they just going on their word? Everything began to make completely no sense. The more he contemplated on things, the more aggravated he got with himself and Akito.

One thing quickly shot at his mind. Why wasn't Kyo transforming instantly whenever Tohru hugged him? What was going on that allowed him to have a few minutes to actually hug her and not transform? **_Is Kyo even aware that he isn't transforming immediately? _**Now he got himself onto another important topic. Would he be able to figure it out? Was he about to end up helping Kyo find some sort of loop hole in his and Akito's deal?

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**Here…is chapter 17! I am still under a slight belief that the 18th chapter is going to be a big one. But… that will be determined when I begin typing it tomorrow morning before I go to school.**


	18. Back Through The School Doors

**Chapter 18: Back Through The School Doors

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**Disclaimer: I… do not… own… Furuba. What are the odds?**

**To those of who that were expecting the 18th chapter to explain the '4min transformation' that wont come until the 19th chapter, I'm sorry. But I can tell you, to those of who that wanted this that there will definitely be more then 20 chapters. It has come to my attention finally, that 20 wont be enough unless I want the 20th chapter to be like 10 pages.

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Tohru had slept in Kyo's room just as he had asked. And she brought Katsuro into the room just as she said she would because she didn't want him feeling left out, or lonely.**

When they awoke, Tohru found Kyo on a small blow up bed where she once was with Katsuro. She was actually in the bed now. In the middle of the night he must have moved them both to the bed and took their spot on the floor. There was a big possibility that he felt bad for having them stay in his room then have them sleeping on the ground like they were nothing.

She smiles at Kyo and goes to her room by tiptoeing out his bedroom door. Entering her's she gets dressed into her school uniform and comes back to Kyo and Katsuro. Kneeling down to the small bed on the ground she smiles at him gently. "Kyo-kun… you have to get up. School is today…" she whispers to him quietly so that she doesn't disturb Katsuro's sleep. Her hand reaches his shoulder and she shakes him a little. She giggles a little, putting her left hand to her mouth to try and stop herself. He rolls over and looks at her in slight confusion. Suddenly, she remembers the injuries he had sustained from Akito's ruthless attacking. "Oh… I'm sorry Kyo. I… completely forgot about that." She whispers placing her hand on his forehead.

Slowly, Kyo sits up and smiles at her gently. "Its okay…" his voice trails off as he rubs his eyes a little.

Out of nowhere, Shigure walks into Kyo's room with a bright smile covering his face. "I'm sorry too Kyo-kuuuun!" He opens his eyes since they were closed from smiling too hard. Kyo was trying to figure out why he would be sorry other then the fact that he never told them about Akito coming to graduation. Yuki had to ask to get an answer from dog-san. "You have to go to school today, injuries or not." The two of them stared at Shigure in pure shock, they couldn't figure out what to say to that. "I wont be home, and I can't leave you here by yourself. Plus," he pauses raises his index finger high into the air, "you have to see if you are allowed to graduate!" His voice rose and no more then a minute later Katsuro woke up, rubbing his eyes

Kyo carefully gets to his feet, followed by Tohru who was now standing behind him. "Fine…" he mumbles and walks to a dresser, pulling out his uniform and walks into the bathroom and changes. He comes back moments later and pulls the bandage off his forehead quickly. There was a little bit of blood stained on the bandage that was right on his forehead since they wrapped it around about three times. The small cut was closing a little; the bruise under his eye was just about gone. Everyone couldn't believe how quickly his body was recovering. Their conclusion was that it was from him going to Kazuma so often. Though, of course, he hasn't gone for a while since Kagura was in the hospital and Shishou wanted to stay with her to keep her company.

"Oh… and Kyo, Kazuma called earlier this morning. He wants you to go to his dojo after school tomorrow." Shigure says as he exits the room. It was as if he were trying to make sure Kyo didn't hear what he was saying to him. The door stays wide open since he didn't bother closing it for them. He makes his way downstairs and sees Yuki standing at the foot of the steps watching him come down. Shigure sighs and approaches him, stepping down from the last step. "Yes Yuki?" He says sounding half aggravated and partly curious.

"I need to talk to you tomorrow. Make some time for it…" he whispers showing that he was beyond annoyed at him. Yuki slowly walks towards the door and opens it. "Tell Ms. Honda that I went to school early," was all he said as he left the house, book bag slung over his shoulder.

Tohru and Kyo came down the steps minutes later with Katsuro chasing after them, tears spurting from his eyes. Turning around quickly, Kyo catches Katsuro by the head before he was able to hug him, not that it would transform him though, he just didn't want a hug from anyone at the moment. "Look kid, we're not going to be gone that long. Go with Shigure…." He whispers pointing his thumb at Shigure. Katsuro whimpers and looks down at the ground.

**x**

While that was being sorted out at Shigure's house, Hiro and Kisa were standing before Akito wondering why they were called upon. Kisa didn't dare to speak in any way because last time she was actually with Akito she was hurt badly and hospitalized. It wasn't the same case for Hiro though. He was prepared to say and ask whatever he was in the mood to say. It was just that Akito preferred them not speaking whatsoever. "We have to get to school…. A-Akito-san." Kisa says, her voice as soft as ever. Hiro stares at her in utter shock. He didn't want her to be hurt again. Not with him being around to stop it this time. How could he even dare to try and stop or question Akito's authority.

A hidden grin crosses Akito's face. "School…." She mutters under her breath. "Kisa… do you like school? Did you enjoy it when all those little children made fun of you?" Akito asks trying to taunt her at the same time with his words.

"I…I like school Akito-san." Kisa lightly bows her head and stares at the ground, her eyes shaking as if she were ready to sprinkle out tears. "It… hurt when the other kids made fun of me Akito-san. But… they… they don't do that anymore." Her voice showed her fear of Akito.

Hiro stares at Akito curiously trying to decipher what she was thinking. But, he couldn't see her face; it was all consumed by the darkness of the corner she sat in. All of them looked as if they were ready to speak, then there was a quick, awkward silence. "So… you like school. Name your friends." Akito's grin quickly becomes mysterious like she was planning something that could help her with her plans.

"My… My friends…." Her voice trails off a little and she glances at Hiro out of the corner of her eyes. "Are…." She stops and turns around seeing Hatsuharu walk into the room after shoving past Kureno.

His face looked blank so that he wouldn't create any suspicions. "Come on you two. You have to get to school." They run to him and he quickly catches Kisa in a hug. He whispers into her ear gently, "Don't ever answer Akito's questions, okay…" Haru was trying to make her understand that something bad could happen if she didn't ask the right way. And that correct way was almost unachievable. "I don't need to see you get hurt again." Haru adds laughing gently. She laughs as well and hugs him a little tighter. He lets her go and stands up. "Now…both of you… get going." He tried to sound as demanding as possible. The two of them go running and exit the room.

Turning to face the direction Akito was sitting in, Haru approaches her and stops just feet away. "Don't you dare ever hurt those two." He didn't realize what he was saying, and he didn't plan on taking notice to it either. "If you ever do… you will never get what you want back. The older members of your private little hell know that your just a stock up bitch. Now… if you'll excuse me." In the middle of the shouting he was doing at Akito, he had turned black. Slowly he departs from the room leaving Akito wordless for the first time in a while.

**x**

Kyo and Tohru finally get out of the house after convincing Katsuro that they'd get back home as soon as they could and not get into trouble or get hurt. He waves goodbye to them and Tohru waves back happily.

After about twenty minutes of walking they reach the school and enter, going straight to Mayu's classroom. Taking their seats many Kyo fan girls flocked over to him questioning all of his injuries. And since Tohru was sitting in the desk beside Kyo's, she got heat from another group of Kyo fan girls about walking to school with him. It was like the Prince Yuki Fan Club revamped to fit Kyo. Now that the both of them had two secret fan clubs each, she realized that she will be getting quadruple the heat from them for being anywhere near Kyo or Yuki.

Finally, everyone took his or her seats. Entering the classroom after the last bell, Yuki also takes his seat beside Tohru. Though he didn't get in trouble like the other late students because he had an excuse. He was at the student government meeting in the school library.

Mayu smiles as she sits at her desk. Quickly, she gets up and walks in front of it and says, "Today I will be handing out your tests from every class that you've had your finals in. Each one of them will have a percentage of how much you got correct on it as well as a letter grade. A passing grade is an 'A' through 'C'. If you get any lower then that on two or more exams then you will not be allowed to graduate." Her expression showed exactly how serious the tests they had taken were.

Diligently, each and every student flipped over their first test and revealed their grades to only their eyes. Tohru and Yuki had both passed on their first exam; Kyo on the other hand had failed the test they both had completed. He sighs and flips over the second one. He had passed Mayu-san's final exam, but had failed in Math. There were almost four tests left, and he had already failed one. After he flips over two more, revealing two low 'C's. Kyo lets out a soft sigh of relief. The feeling of wanting to graduate ran through his mind, and then he realizes that after that, he wouldn't be able to even have a life.

Placing his hand over the next paper he flips it over quickly. Yet another 'B' showed itself. He glances around the room and locks his eyes on Yuki's paper. So far, since there was just one test left, he had yet to fail. Tohru on the other hand had failed a test as well, but it was one of the ones that Kyo got a 'C' on.

Taking a tight grip on the final test, each student turns it over and lays it flat on their desks. Tohru's eyes glowed happily, she got a 'B' on her last exam, it was the same with Yuki. She quickly looks at Kyo's desks and her eyes got wide. But joyful relief suddenly rushed through her. It was yet another 'C'. But this time it was just a point away from a 'D', which would have made him fail. Kyo slouches into his chair and breathes heavily. His head was pounding, his neck hurt, even his ribs were aching again. "I… passed." Kyo whispers quickly. Tohru smiles at him proudly.

"Kyo… you're going to graduate with us!" She exclaims, but not so loud where everyone would turn and stare. He smiles back and stacks the exams into a neat pile and rubs his forehead after getting an amazingly horrible headache. "I'm so happy for you and Yuki-kun!" Tohru says after Mayu allows everyone to discuss their grades and have time to talk to one another.

Yuki smiles back at her and stands up, stuffing the papers into his book bag. He slings it over his shoulder once again and leaves the classroom without a word. Kyo and Tohru look at each other then get to their feet and take their papers and bags and follow Yuki out of the room.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Kyo questions sounding a little irritated at the fact that Yuki had nothing wrong with him and he was acting all depressed, when it was him that had all the injuries. It just didn't seem to make sense. Shouldn't Kyo be the one mopping around in slight pain? "Why are you acting so retarded? You didn't fail one class! Tohru and me failed two all together! And you're all 'La La La'!" He exclaims charging up to Yuki.

Sighing, Yuki stares at Kyo in complete annoyance. "You go on about everything don't you…." He mumbles fixing his backpack.

Kyo grabs hold of Yuki's uniform collar and glares at him pulling him closer angrily. "You don't shut up do you!" He growls belligerently. "You're act so damn sad and it's pissing me off! Why don't you just pick up me about getting my ass beat by Akito!" he yells roughly. Waiting for Yuki to respond he stares at him.


	19. Steel Bars, Locks, Bolts, Revelation

**Chapter 19: Steel Bars, Locks, Bolts; Revelation

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Furuba.**

**The chapter title is a play on words…lol. I couldn't resist some light humor.

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Yuki sighs and pulls away from Kyo. "Why… didn't you bomb those tests, Kyo?" he asks quietly.

The two of them stared at Yuki astonished. "Why…. would I bomb the tests!" Kyo shouts angrily. "Do you want me to look like some kind of idiot cousin! Is it because I did better then you on one test!" He continues to yell hostilely.

Tohru grabs Kyo's arm and pulls him to the side gently. She looks at him gently and he sighs looking down at the ground. "Kyo… please try not to yell. I bet Yuki has a very good reason for asking that question." She smiles and lifts his head up slowly. "Just let him try to answer." Tohru rubs his arm a little and lets go, looking at Yuki curiously.

"I had a good feeling, that if you were to bomb the exams, you wouldn't be locked away." After he had said this, both Kyo and Tohru looked to be consumed by his words. They were all ears when he finally explained what he meant. "Remember, she said when your _graduate. _If you were to not graduate, you'd have another year or so to continue living in Shigure's house with Ms.Honda, Shigure, and I. But… since you passed of course, that plan can't be put into affect." He grins in slight shadow, and then looks at Kyo knowingly. "Good luck trying to be me Cat-san…" Yuki says mockingly then walks away from them toward his next class.

"DON'T CALL ME MR.CAT!" He shouts angrily. Everyone turns around and begins to laugh jokingly and leave the area. Kyo sighs and leans against a wall, Tohru walks up at Kyo and smiles. "Why are you smiling? My head hurts… is that something to smile about?" Kyo asks her curiously, seeming rather annoyed at her.

She kept smiling and places one hand on his left shoulder. "Kyo… it's okay. I… I need you to tell me when you're scared." He looks at her curiously and allows her to continue on. "I… I love you still. We haven't even acknowledged that since that day…." She whispers to him. All he could do was smile at her to try and to get a smile back on her face since her's disappeared when she began speaking. Her hand floats to his cheek. "I hope you feel better Kyo-kun…" She says to him and walks off, catching up to Arisa and Saki.

He smiles, rubs his head a little, and then picks up his book bag. After walking to his next class he sat down and listened to the teacher go on and on about how the ceremony will be held. All he had heard was 'Wear your cap and gown'. Other then that he was just spacing out. He stares through the window looking at the parking lot. His eyes quickly grew large, his heart beat got quicker. The two guys he and Yuki hurt when they injured Tohru were standing outside the school, waiting for the bell to ring so that they can jump her again.

In spite of knowing he'll get in trouble, Kyo gets up and runs out the classroom door, the teacher shouting after him telling him to come back. He stops outside the school and stares at the two men from six days or so ago. "You damn lowlifes…. Get out of here!" he orders then viciously. All they do is laugh at him and soon enough he was surrounded with many more people. Each of them had some kind of nightstick in their black-gloved hands. "Is this some kind of gangster fair?" he asks looking around him to find himself in a circle of them. Staring back at the leader now, he grins and gets into a fighting position. "Come on! I'll take all of you freaks on!" Kyo exclaims belligerently.

"You don't have to. We're already leaving…." The leader calls and laughs running away with the crowd of gang-like people.

He caught sight of a girl in one of their arms, tape over her mouth. "TOHRU!" He yells and begins running as fast as he could towards them. Then, out of nowhere he is jumped in the forest and knocked unconscious.

They run in various directions making sure that if he did wake up he wouldn't be able to track them down instantly. Eventually, though, they reach the Main Sohma estate and toss her to the ground after entering a house. From the corner of the almost pitch-black room, with boards nailed over the windows, came Akito, her long kimono dragging across the floor. She kneels down and places her finger under her cheek. "Ms. Honda…." Akito whispers after all the members of her little 'squad' leave. Kureno, as always, was standing behind her awaiting any and all commands as if he were a dog. "Do you have any idea how many times you screwed up my plan!" She yells angrily, slapping Tohru, digging her nails into her cheek.

Tohru would've yelled but the tape was still over her mouth. So, instead, she groaned very loudly, her yelp was badly muffled. She glances around the room in pain and saw that it was a completely empty house. And the only room in it was the one she was sitting in with Akito. It had bars over the boarded up windows, and the door had many bolts on it that had just be reopened so that they could get in.**_ Is… this the room… she plans on locking Kyo-kun up in…?_** She couldn't believe it, she didn't want to. Suddenly, Tohru finds herself halfway glaring at Akito in slight anger.

"Because of your love for Kyo and his love for you…. You're ruining everything!" She tares the tape off her mouth and pushes her backwards. After hitting the ground on her back gently, Tohru didn't dare move, let alone speak up. Standing up and staring down at Tohru she laughs. "Since, you want to be a Sohma. You will be treated like one…" She walks past her and out the door with Kureno. The door she once looked at was now being re-bolted shut

Her eyes shook in sheer fear. She didn't know what to do. Should she move, and make noise from inside the small house. Could she call to Kyo and Yuki? Or even Hatsuharu and Momiji. She couldn't' figure it out. She was locked up the same way Kyo was going to soon be. Tohru didn't want any of this to happen. To think she'd rather it be her locked up then Kyo frightened her a little. But she did love him, and there's nothing she would rather want for him then for him to be free. She leans against a cold, steel wall to the left and sighs, wrapping her arms around herself to keep her body warm. Slowly, she drops her head against the wall and chills begin to rush up and down her spine as if the chills were horses and her spine was a track for them to run on.

She couldn't believe it. She was taken right out of class, without the teacher noticing. How were they able to get into the room so quietly that the teacher took no heed of them? Something was so wrong. The teacher for that class was a new substitute. Should she not have be paying attention more? A slight thought slammed her in the forehead and slipped through her ears trying to inform her. "Did… Akito-san make sure that teacher was to sub for that class today… and … have me kidnapped?" Tohru sighs and tightens her grip on her arms getting colder by the second.

Suddenly, she listens and hears voices coming from just outside one of the boarded and bar-covered windows. She gets to her feet and searches for a crack in the wood. After realizing there was none, she began to listen instead of see. To her surprise, just outside the house -talking in secrecy- were Momiji, Haru, and Rin. A gentle and excited smile crosses her face. They must have all gotten out of school early after the principal found out about one the students being kid napped by a gang of some sort.

"Who would want to kidnap Tohru-chaaan?" Momiji whines sorrowfully, looking at Rin and Hatsuharu with a worry-filled expression.

Haru sighs and pats Momiji on the head lightly. "Don't worry. If Kyo and Yuki ask us to help, we're definitely going to." He smiles and takes hold of Rin's hand gently. Turning to face her he tilts his head a little. "Will you be helping us?" Haa-chan asks curiously as he takes hold of her other hand.

Softly, Isuzu nods and pulls her hands from Haru's. "I will. But I can't be with you. Remember what I told you Kureno said the day he called almost all of us to meet him in the forest…."

He lets out a gentle breath and nods, leaving the area quickly, peering through the wood a little and somewhat catches a glimpse of something… or someone. "I'll… see you two later." Haru waves his hand with a soft flick of his wrist. Walking around the house to the completely bolt-locked door he examines the doorknob and doorframe. He knocks densely. "Anyone in there?" Haru says after getting to his knees and looking down into the bottom part of the door.

Someone's shadow overcomes his own and he quickly turns around in slight fright. He lets out an unnoticeable sigh and gets to his feet. "What are you doing Hatsuharu?" The voice of a young man asks. It was Hatori, who, was actually heading over to see Haru. "Is something inside that room? We all know Akito said she'd never use it again unless she was-." He is cut off by another approaching shadow.

"Forced to." Kureno finishes for him, his hands at his hips as he stops just behind the both of them. "I'd like to know why you both are in this area. Answers…now!" he demands roughly, advancing towards Haru to meet his eyes. By doing this he was able to convince himself that he was in no danger at the moment since he hadn't turned black.

"I heard a noise coming from this house…." Haru mutters and kicks his foot against the door, typing his shoe, trying to act nonchalant. He hears more crawling and scratching of movement. "Who or what is in there Kureno?" He asks pulling his foot back down so that it was on the ground again. Suddenly, he does the same with his other shoe, putting it on the door hard so that it'd make a loud knocking sound. More scattering noises are heard and he gently puts his other foot back down and turns to look at Kureno. "Are you too scared to answer?" Ox-san asks mockingly, beginning to turn black.

Akito walks up to them and smiles, her arms folded across her chest. "Do not demand answers Haru…. It isn't polite." She says quietly, then hears Haru huff in annoyance. "I remember something from this morning. Do you recall? You called me a stuck up bitch isn't that right?" Akito steps towards Haru, stumbling a couple times until she finally rests her hand on his shoulder. "Now… if you want to know who is in there… be a good boy and go in." She whispers into his ear.

Sure enough, he yanks open the door, breaking the bolts and charges in. His eyes grew wide as he saw who was inside. He grew uncomfortable and eventually changes back into the regular Haru. Turning around he heads to the door and finds Akito and Kureno closing it. The last thing he saw was Hatori trying to stop Kureno but being held back by Akito. He yells in anger then looks softly at Tohru. "So… this is what happened. You were… kid napped by a gang sent by Akito…" he sits down in front of her.

A weak nod answers his question. "D…Do you think Kyo or Yuki will come to help us?" She asks, her voice getting slightly sore from breathing in the cold air of the room. All she got from his was a sigh and she watches him lay back, arms folded behind his head. There was almost no hope. "Did … anyone… ever tell you the story… called _Aikyou?_" Tohru asks, smiling a little. He glances up at her, barely a few feet from her. "It means… love and respect…. But… I guess it'd be pointless to tell it." Haru sits up, legs crossed Indian style and appears to look truthfully interested. She smiles once more and begins the story

"Once upon a time… there was a little boy and girl who always played together. They always did the same thing every day. Play tag. After many years of knowing each other, the boy, now a young man proposes to the young lady and she agrees to marry him excitedly. When they went to consult it with the young woman's parents they didn't like the idea and the wedding was off. It deeply upset the both of them but they still had the permission to be friends." 

She pauses, rubbing her throat as it began to sting from the cold. Almost instantly, she continues on ignoring the pain:

"Many months passed. Many years passed. And soon enough they had completely forgotten each other. All they knew was that they had a little card that said 'I'll love you, itsumo'. They vowed to themselves to find the person that had sent it to them. After long searching, they find each other again in a small town. Soon enough, they realize that it was their past loves. Once more, they tried to get married and the woman's parents rejected it once more. The girl said good-bye to the boy again and closed the door to have a private talk with her family. She asks why she wasn't allowed to marry him and tells them everything she loved about him. All the parents replied with was a single word. 'Aikyou.' The young lady did so much research on it that she felt as if her brain were about to burst." Tohru laughs gently. Haru couldn't help but smile and listen attentively. "Then… she finally discovers the meaning of it. Her parents meant that she was not to marry him because it was not meant to be. It was to be that they were friends forever. And loved them very much, but respected their true decisions. Their hearts…." She says, touching the left side of her chest gently, "Were not really in love. It was a false coating that made them believe they were. They only loved each other as friends… and only friends. But, no matter what was to happen throughout their life, they would always respect them in any and all ways."

Once again she stops and a tear rolls down her cheek. "I could imagine loving someone and realizing that it wasn't true love. Just…. Just _Aikyou._ But… it's really hard to understand it don't you think? I mean… isn't it strange how they admitted they loved each other but soon found deeper meaning and realized they didn't. It is so bizarre. But… it really makes you think about the people you say you love." She watches him nod and she smiles a little, then looks down at her hands. "But… I know what I feel for Kyo… isn't only 'aikyou.' I truly do love him." Her voice was quiet as she spoke since she wasn't quite sure if Kyo would want Haru knowing that they both loved each other.

Haru nods and agrees with almost everything she said. He stands up and looks at the door. After about an hour of sitting in the cold, steel room the door was just about to open. In almost annoyed shock, he watches Akito walk in and approach them.

"I think I should tell you something. Just to let you know wench." She says, closing the door behind her. After advancing as close as she could without being within Haru's striking distance, she grins evilly. "Honda… you piss me off greatly." Tohru stares at her a little confused. **_What a horrible greeting…_** Tohru thinks to herself. "Are you aware that you are on the verge of breaking the family curse!" Akito yells belligerently.

She felt as though she went into shock. **_Did… she just say I was beginning to break the Sohma curse…? _**Tohru asks herself in her thoughts. Glancing at Akito in astonishment, she opens her mouth and words flutter out. "H-How…?" she asks in confusion.

"YOUR GOD DAMN LOVE FOR KYO IS BREAKING HIS PART OF THE CURSE YOU BITCH!" She exclaims. Tohru shivers in fear and Haru takes a step towards Akito angrily. "If you don't stop loving Kyo… something very bad will happen to him!" Sohma God-san says annoyingly. "Now… you better pray he can beat Yuki. Cause, even if you stop loving him, he'll be locked up! Like. A. Monster!" She separates the last three words of her small speech-like talk.

Tohru stares at her sadly and stands up. "F-Fine…" she gasps sorrowfully, looking at the ground now and wraps her arms around her own waist, still extremely cold. "I'll… t-try to stop loving Kyo-kun…." Tohru mumbles softly.

"Good." Akito says grinning. "You can leave now."

Approaching the door gradually, Tohru gently pulls it open and stares out it. Her eyes got very large and tears burst from them and rapidly ran down her cheeks. Dropping to her knees, she broke down into incontrollable tears. "…. I'm sorry…." was all she spoke as she took hold of the person's shoe.

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**I think this may just be one of my personal favorite chapters…. But… that's just me. I hope everyone else enjoys this chapter. Thank you to my reviewers once again! I really appreciate it! Please continue to R & R!**


	20. Froze to the Core

**Chapter 20: Froze to the Core

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Furuba… the truth sucks don't it…lol. **

**Sorry about leaving everyone on just the ending of chapter 19 for a couple of days. My mistake. I shouldn't have ended chapter 19 like that.

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Continuing to cry wildly, looking down at the ground, Tohru rests her forehead on the shoe she had taken a tight grasp on. The person looks down at her in slight confusion and gets to their knees, meeting Tohru's eyes. "Di…Did you hear… anything?" She asks, still shivering. Her hands were on the person's now.

The voice gently rang, his eyes a little shaky. The person that had entered the room was Kyo. "…. Hear… what?" He asks, wiping away some of her more recent falling tears. Keeping his index finger on her left cheek he smiles at her. "Tell me… when we get back to Shigure's house…." Kyo whispers to her, getting to his feet and pulling her gently to her own feet. Staring at him, she goes to open her mouth but his finger quickly presses against her lips softly stopping her from speaking. "Rat boy and Kisa are waiting for you back at home… now let's go…" he takes a quick hold of her hand and pulls her along.

Tohru glances back into the room and sees a gentle grin cross Akito's face. She now had to discontinue her love for Kyo, and pretend it was never meant to me. Maybe… she was wrong. Was it really just 'aikyou'? Her heart was pounding as they cautiously exited the Sohma Estate and crossed the street.

**x**

Back inside the room, Haru stood behind the newly turned around Akito. "How dare you force someone to stop loving someone! She isn't apart of our family! You have no right giving her orders!" A quick, powerful backhand rips across his right cheek and his hand jerks to the side. He finds himself staring at a wall to the left of them. The force of Akito's hand had made him look to the side of them both. "Eh…." Haru lets out a quiet gasped and turns his head to stare back at Akito angrily. "Even if I deserved that… I won't take back what I said…." He mumbles as he passes Akito and walks out the door at an extremely fast pace.

Grinning evilly, Akito advances to the door after Hatsuharu disappears into the distance, and into his house. She claps her hands together once and holds them that way. Turning around, she walks to the side of the house and looks at Kureno smiling proudly. "It seems as though Ms. Honda didn't need to be harmed in order for her to understand what I was saying…." Her voice was gentle and falsely soothing. "All that we have to do… is refresh Haru's and Rin's memory a little. I understand that you saw them together, talking and holding hands…." Akito's voice carefully slips out of her mouth as she moves closer to Kureno, resting her head on his chest gently. "Tell Isuzu and Haru to come see me as soon as they can…." Slowly, she moves away from him and walks ineptly back towards her home within the Sohma Estate.

**x**

After reaching Shigure's house, Kisa was the first to catch a glimpse of Tohru out the window as they were approaching. She runs outside and jumps at Tohru, getting captured in a big hug. They stayed embraced for many minutes since she was now holding Kisa in her arms lovingly. Katsuro's head pops out from the door nervously and he too comes out and runs to her. He hugs her legs and she bends down and cuddles them happily. "Onee-chan!" Kisa exclaims resting her head on Tohru's shoulder gently. "I thought… Akito-san might have done something bad to you! I'm so happy you're okay!" She continued on, tears dripping from her eyes gradually.

Kyo sighs and looks at Tohru who was on her knees in the middle of the pathway to the door into Shigure's house. With her, of course, were Kisa and Katsuro. "Tohru-chan! I thought you weren't coming back! I was so worried!" Katsuro whimpers, nuzzling his head into her free shoulder.

"I'm…. sorry I worried you two…" her voice masked the fact that so much had happened already. It was as if nothing had happened to her. Like she wasn't shivering from the cold, like she wasn't just locked up in a steel room with completely no lights, and like she wasn't recently being told what she was doing and what to stop doing by Akito. "L… Let's get inside…." She whispers to them softly, getting to her feet, hesitating a little before finally walking into the house with Katsuro and Kisa.

Rubbing his head, Kyo watches the three of them walk inside. Everything was now doing extremely well at confusing him. He couldn't figure what was making Tohru look as lifeless as she does at the moment. Suddenly, he sees Yuki come outside and practically glare at him. "What's that for!" he exclaims in annoyance, charging up to Yuki.

"What happened to Ms. Honda-san…." He says plainly, but as he finished his voice sounded more and more demanding.

Kyo glares at him getting angrier by the second. "How should I know!" Kyo shot quickly, growling and narrowing his eyes.

"Of course you don't. The stupid cat can't know anything. It's truly incredible that you're even allowed to pass. I was astonished when I saw that you didn't fail the year…" he mutters mocking everything and anything about Kyo he could think of.

He begins to glare at Yuki with hatred. "…I … don't know why she's sad…. Okay?" Kyo says quietly, dropping his fist and replacing his angry expression with a quiet, soft stare at the ground in front of him. "Tell her I hope she feels better… I'm going to Shishou's. I wont be at school for a month…." He whispers and turns his back to Yuki and begins to approach a path that leads straight to Kazuma's dojo. Turning his head slightly, he calls to Yuki, "That makes you happy doesn't it…." Kyo continues on down the path and walks for a few minutes. He advances towards the dojo and stares in utter shock.

**x**

Back in Shigure's house, Yuki and Tohru were sitting at the kitchen table. Katsuro and Kisa were sitting on both sides of her, hugging her arms. "Yuki-kun…. Where is Kyo-kun?" She asks curiously, looking around the kitchen since she couldn't really look anywhere else at the moment. "Did he go out to get something?" Tohru questions quiet, though she didn't sound rude at all.

"He's going to Shishan's dojo…" Yuki replies softly, getting to his feet and heading to the threshold of the kitchen. Just as Tohru was setting the plates, she puts one down for Kyo. "He won't be back for a month Honda-san…" he adds gently, then watches Tohru's slightly happy expression vanish and sees her put the extra plate away. As he leaves the kitchen, he mutters under his breath, "Stupid cat… you're making it worse…."

Tohru slowly began to make dinner, Katsuro and Kisa cheerfully helping by handing her the packages of food and other ingredients she'd have to add to spice it up, or sweeten it and such. Kyo was right about what he told Yuki, she really did look almost lifeless.

**x**

Kyo's eyes grew wide; the rush of raw anger ran throughout him. His body was growing very hot from the flames in front of him. Kazuma's dojo was in a blazing fire. Someone's hand touches his shoulder, as he was about to run into the flaming building. "Let me goo!" he exclaims trying to pull away from the person. He is spun around and he sees Kazuma. "You're… okay…." He says gasping for air, and then he sighs in relief. "Where is Kagura and Kunimitsu?" Kyo asks anxiously looking around.

Kazuma smiles friendlily, and stops Kyo from moving by grabbing his shoulders. "Stop moving already Kyo…" he laughs as he stops him. "They're fine, they just went to find a fire hydrant to help put the fire out. We have a hose you know…" Shishou says, and then rubs his head.

"I'm staying here to train with you for a month!" He exclaims to Shishou out of nowhere. It had taken Kazuma by surprise but he smiles and pats Kyo on the head gently. "I'm serious Shishou!" He says quietly, but in a louder tone then a whisper. "And what happened to the dojo?" Kyo asks in sheer confusion.

Shihan looks around in embarrassment. "Well… I was cooking…" He watches Kyo slap his forehead. "Oh come on… it was actually going good. Then, I left the dojo to get something and soon enough, the dojo was on fire."

"Are you sure you were doing good?" Kyo a little confused and curious about what he was saying now.

"Well yeah Kyo, I was using the microwave and put the rice in for ten minutes just like you always do. I copied everything you did and next thing I knew… there was this blazing fire." He points to the burning dojo blankly.

Kyo rubs his head with both hands and thinks, **_How does he say all of this so calmly?_** Sighing, he pulls his hands off his head and stares at Kazuma. "If you did everything I do… then how could it have created a fire…" he whispers under his breath then tries to think about some possibilities.

"I did see a few kids though. All dressed in black…" Kazuma says, yawning a little now.

His eyes grew wide as he heard Shishou's last sentence. "Akito…. Sent people to burn down your dojo Shishou!" Kyo exclaims angrily. " That bas-tich is beginning to piss me off!" He continues to yell loudly until he finds himself being hugged by Kagura. "Hi …" he frowns a little after saying this. Kunimitsu waves as he runs past them and fires water - from a hose- at the blazing fire. "Shishou… you have to let me train here for a month…. Please…" Kyo whispers to him, dropping his head in slight embarrassment as he sounded like he was begging him.

Kazuma's hand touches the top of Kyo's head and he smiles, they both hear Kagura giggle then turn around. "Okay Kyo…but don't you think Ms. Honda will be upset about not seeing you…?" He asks curiously, glancing at the dojo for a moment to see how much they had progressed since Kunimitsu tried to extinguish it. It was out within a few minutes and the dojo was completely black from being burned. They hear a loud _beep_, Kyo groans and stomps passed Kazuma and goes to the kitchen and opens the microwave. "I…told you I put it in for ten minutes!" Kazuma calls.

Kyo begins to eat it as he walks back to Kazuma. "I… need to become stronger... Tohru… will just have to wait for me to return." he whispers after swallowing a mouthful of rice. Kazuma lightly smiles and orders the three of them to begin building a temporary shelter that is actually inhabitable.

They begin and tear down wood from the old dojo and find tools that were unharmed in a bedroom of the dojo. Kyo sets the wood up slowly, his mind completely on Tohru even when he tried to stop thinking about her. He wanted to see that happy smile again. But, he didn't get to before he left the house. Slamming a hammer down, the nail is driven through a few boards. He stands them up and slams more nails into the wood as Kunimitsu holds them up. Many hours pass and they have the fairly large shelter almost finished. All they needed to add was the roof and cut a few spots for windows and they'd have built a livable, mini-dojo.

Each of them claims a spot on the one bedroom floor. They lay in the sleeping bags, (Kyo slept on top of the sleeping bag instead). It was barely nighttime, but Shishou was telling them to get to sleep early for some reason. All Kyo knew, was that he was going to miss school until graduate comes so that he can be as strong as he possibly can. He rests his head on the fluffy part of the sleeping bag and closes his eyes.

"Sleep well Kyo…" Shishou whispers as he exits the shelter. He begins to tear the roof off as quietly as possible. Setting it on the ground as a giant slab he uses sand paper so that it wouldn't be rough and splintery. "Here's where we practice when you awake…" Kazuma mumbles, and then goes back into the small shelter to sleep.

The wind began to pick up and it made everyone very cold. Kyo wakes up and looks at the roof in confusion. The first thing that came to mind was that the wind had torn it off. He sighs and stays on his back, lying down. "Be safe Tohru…." He whispers to himself and turns onto his side, closing his eyes. "I'm going to become stronger so that I can stay with you…." Kyo adds extremely quietly and then eventually falls asleep.

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**This story will most likely be about 23-24 chapters now. It will move ahead a month after chapter 22 ends.**


	21. The Beginning of Life Without Kyo

**Chapter 21: The Beginning of Life Without Kyo

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**

Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba.

Everyone! Please continue to enjoy the chapters and read and review. I love to know what you think of my fanfics, good or bad!

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Slowly, his eyes began to flutter open and he groans as he rolls around on the ground. "Ehmm…" he sighs and looks up. Kyo was still laying in the small makeshift shelter he, Kagura, and Kunimitsu built. Carefully, he gets to his feet making practically no sound. He walks out the creaky door and stares at the large slab of wood that was about twenty feet ahead. Instantly he recognized it as the roof that was once on top of the small house.

Approaching the wood quietly, Kyo steps on the edge of it and stares down at the smooth boarding. "Now I know where the roof went…" he mumbles, stretching his arms and legs a little. Kneeling down slightly, he looks at the slab of roof and sighs, and then falls backwards, somewhat tired.

Out of completely no where, Kazuma looks down at Kyo with one of the brightest, beaming smiles he had ever seen from a person who's home was just recently burned down. Kazuma watches Kyo roll over and stagger to his feet, then bow slowly. "Good morning Kyo. You're up early as usual." Shishou smiles once more then steps onto the piece of wood and advances to the center of it. His back to Kyo, Kazuma looks down then glances at him out of the corner of his eye. "You're missing a day of school… just for training Kyo… you realize that right?" He watches him quickly nod and sighs then faces forward, back completely to Kyo now.

Kyo jumps onto the board and stares at Kazuma's back. "What are you waiting for?" he exclaims eagerly. "I don't care about school right now! I already passed… I… I just need to beat Yuki, okay!" Kyo continues shouting at Kazuma feeling his hatred of Yuki flaring up inside of him. His hands close, fingers digging into his skin. He growls under his breath and glares at Kazuma angrily. "Let's hurry up already!" Kyo yells, slamming his left foot down as hard as he could into the wood without snapping or cracking it in any way.

Sighing slightly, Kazuma turns around and gives Kyo a gentle nod. He stands sideways, and watches Kyo get into an angered fighting stance. **_His mind is clouded with his hatred of Yuki. I can stand still and he'll probably miss me…._** Kazuma thought to himself and grins at Kyo.

Charging at him, he throws his fist and misses to the left of Kazuma's head without him making the slightest movement. He drops his head onto Shishou's shoulder and groans. "I'm… not thinking straight… and you know it…." He mumbles to him quietly. Kazuma pats his head gently and he moans in annoyance. "Don't do that…" Kyo mutters and pushes his hand off of his head.

Suddenly, he feels a great rush of pain slam into the center of his chest and next thing he knew he was laying at the opposite end of the wood covered ground, arms around his abdomen. He coughs and rolls over, realizing that he shouldn't have sounded as demanding as he had when he said 'Don't do that' to Kazuma. Staggering to his feet in pain, Kyo draws his hand over his lips a little and then gets into a fighting stance, grinning at Shishou. "I'm ready now! Let's do this!" He exclaims proudly, then runs at Kazuma.

A quick spar began and, surprisingly, Kyo was able to block most of the punches and kicks that Kazuma threw at him. Swiftly, he spins around and sweep kicks at Kazuma's legs. Next thing he saw was Shihan lying on the ground in front of him, smiling and rubbing his back a little. "Shi… Shishou… I'm sorry…" he bows his head a little and sighs. "I shouldn't have attacked you like that…." Kyo scratches the back of his head in complete embarrassment. After watching Kazuma get to his feet, a soft smile crosses his face when he came to the decision that he was okay.

Kazuma waves his hands trying to stop Kyo from apologizing. "It's okay Kyo…" he says gently, clearly he was trying to make him understand something. This was the first time he had ever laid a direct hit on him and that was something he should know and be proud of. "Guess what…" Kazuma whispers to him still rubbing his back gradually. Kyo stares at him wondering about what he was going to say next. "You hit me…."

"No crap…" he mumbles sarcastically.

He laughs at Kyo's non-enthusiastic response. "Kyo… you've never exactly hit me directly before. Remember, I'm always blocking your useless attempts." His eyes grew wide as he began to actual pay attention to Kazuma's words. "You were right when you said that you were ready now. Your mind was completely clear and you were allowing yourself to concentrate on the task at hand." He continued on smiling every step of the way. "You have to be as clear as you were a few moments ago in order to defeat Yuki. There is no further training that your body is reques-." Kyo cuts him off, stepping towards him slightly.

"Shishou! You are going to train me for a month! Okay! You have to! I want you to train me to keep my anger under control so I can think clearly! I want you to help me become a little stronger, and faster, and more accurate…" His voice trails off and he sighs, his voice now becoming gentle as he speaks, "Please… just for this month… just this month. Once that time passes… I'll… be gone instantly!" Kyo informs him, even though he had said almost exactly the same thing to him a day earlier.

Kazuma sighs and nods once more. "Fine, again. You can stay Kyo…and I'll train you in the ways you want me to… but you will not argue with me or raise your voice…" his voice trails off as he watches Kagura come out of the little house in her pajamas. She smiles at them both and waves then goes back into the house and changes into her regular clothes. After a few minutes, Kagura approaches them and sits just behind the edge of the wood slab on the ground. "And you wont interject while I'm speaking…" Kyo nods and then drops his head bowing.

She couldn't help but smile at the both of them and stand up to bow to Shishou as well, even though she was a good forty feet away. Carefully, she walks back into the house and bumps into Kunimitsu, instantly changing her into a boar. She grunts and scurries into a corner that was dark enough for her to change back to herself without being seen without clothes on.

Kyo's training went on for hours, and during that time, Tohru and everyone else was at school, even Kagura had left for college since she is about two years older then Kyo and Yuki.

**x**

While at school, Tohru couldn't help but sit beside Kyo's empty desk, gazing out the window just as he usually does. She couldn't find a way for her to pay attention to the teachers during any class. Her mind was solely on Kyo and only him. Was it true that it was his fault her mother got into a car accident? **_Maybe he was reading what happened wrong,_** she thought. Sighing she looks at the front of her fifth period class; which happened to be an algebra type math class that she didn't like at all. Carefully, she props her head up with her hands, elbows on the desk top of her chair.

Yuki, on the other hand, couldn't help but worry about Tohru and how she will be feeling for the next month without Kyo. It was going to be horrible for him to see her so lifeless, but the fact that Kyo wouldn't be around for a month was raising his spirits a little. He made sure that he sat next to Tohru in every class they had together so that he can make an attempt at taking her mind off of the subject that was bothering her: Kyo.

Throughout the day, Tohru moped around. She barely even spoke to Arisa and Saki, until lunchtime arrived. Taking their seats at their classes assigned table, she weakly smiles at them seeing that they were deeply worried.

"Tohru-chan's waves are telling me that she is sad. Why are you sad Tohru?" Hanajima asks tilting her head to the side slightly.

She sighs and stares at them, tears swelling up in her eyes. Quickly, Tohru rubs her eyes wiping away the tears before they got the chance to fall. "Kyo-kun's going to be gone for a month… and… it's making me sad…" she whispers quietly, replying to Saki's question.

Arisa pounds her right fist into her left hand and grins. "I'll go find Orangey and rough him up for you!" She exclaims eagerly. "No one makes my friend sad!" Uo-chan adds wildly.

Tohru quickly throws her arms around hoping to stop Arisa. "No! No! Don't hurt Kyo-kun…" she says to her pleadingly. Her two friends stare at her curiously wondering why she was sounding so much more objective at the mention of violence then usual. "I… I…" Tohru stutters at first and looks down, her face red from blushing. "I love Kyo-kun…" Her voice trails off leaving Arisa and Saki in utter shock.

Rubbing her ears, Arisa laughs a little and says, "You're joking right!" She cracks up in slight hysteria laughing with the quiet chuckling Saki. After seeing Tohru shake her head, Uo straightens up and then leans across the table a little to look at her more closely. "Is there another Kyo we don't know about?" Once again, she shakes her head and then looks down. She smiles and sits back down on her seat, "In that case… I'm happy for you Tohru-chan… Maybe he'll come back sooner or whatever…" she says trying to raise her hopes a little to make her slightly cheerful.

She smiles at her two friends, then gets up from her seat after finishing her lunch quickly. Waving good-bye to Arisa and Saki she leaves the school cafeteria and enters the main hallway, walking sadly towards her next class. Suddenly she finds herself stopped in the middle of the hall by Haru and Momiji who were looking at her anxiously. "Tohru-chaaan! Why are you upsettt?" Rabbit-san asks grabbing her hands.

Haru sighs and pulls Momiji away from Tohru slowly. "Tohru-chan… whatever it is… that's bothering you… I hope it gets better." He smiles and advances closer to her, and whispers into her ear. "Kyo will be back soon… don't go and worry yourself into pain, okay? Just wait… remember that little story you told me. Maybe… you can change that little tale around and make it into your current situation." He pulls back and puts his hands at his hips. "Whelp… we have to get to class… later." He turns and waves his hand by just flicking his wrist a little.

Momiji waves good-bye to Tohru happily and chases after Haru. "How come I couldn't hold Tohru-chaaan's hands?" She heard him ask as they got a little farther away. It brought a small smile to her face, but it allowed her to stay on her feet for the rest of the day as she tried to ignore her pains.

The school day droned on and left every single student in a state of boredom. There was completely nothing to do until the graduation came. She spoke to Yuki a little on the way back home about what they would do later, but it turned out that he just had to go to another student council meeting. So, instead, she had fun with Katsuro and Kisa after they got home from school. Hiro just watched them run around saying that they all looked really stupid.

"Why are you running in circles like idiots? Is that amusing? Do you find it fun?" All he got as a response was lots of shouting laughter and giggling from the three of them. "You haven't done anything yet you're still laughing. You look and sound stupid you dumb woman."

Tohru stops and looks at Hiro smiling. She still answered to whatever he called her because she had gotten so used to it by now. "Hiro-chan… play tag with us!" offers Tohru, gesturing for him to come. He sighs and gets up from the front steps and walks over to them. Soon enough, a large game of tag bursts into action. At first, Hiro didn't have a clue at what to do since he didn't play games often, but eventually he caught on and did fairly well. For today and today only, Tohru allowed herself to forget about Kyo's month long trip and enjoys herself as she plays with the three children.

**x**

Meanwhile, at Kazuma's makeshift dojo, Kyo stands breathing heavily, his body battered from training with Shishou the entire day. He lifts his arm up and runs it across his mouth, wiping away any trace of blood that may have been there; even though there wasn't any. Kyo leans forward, his hands gripping his kneecaps tightly. He groans and glances at Kazuma who was a little less worn out then him since all he was really doing was avoiding Kyo's onslaught of attacks. The whole time everyone was at school (about five hours) Kyo had landed only one more hit and at that time his mind was on nothing but attacking his Shihan.

Kazuma brushes the dirt off of his clothes and looks toward the little house and laughs seeing Kunimitsu and Kagura slurping soda and eating popcorn as they had become extremely entertain by their constant sparring. Finally, Kagura stands up and smiles at them. "Though I wasn't here to watch the entire training session, I think you did really well Kyo-kun!" Kagura exclaims in support of his determination to become stronger. Quietly, she goes back into the little home and begins to cook happily.

Suddenly, Kyo collapses to the ground and lays on the wood weakly. "I'm… so tired…" his voice trails off as a bursting gust of wind lunges past them. "I don't even know how I lasted as long as I did…." Kyo coughs and folds his hands behind his head, looking up at the now darkening sky. "I need to wash up…" he staggers to his feet, his body beyond sore, and walks towards the old dojo and enters it. He goes into what was once the bathroom and takes a shower since that was the only room in the house that wasn't destroyed in any way. He takes his clothes off and takes a shower, growling at the feeling of water as he always does.

Outside the burnt down dojo, and near the mini dojo Kagura and Kazuma were talking to one another. "Do you think… Kyo can stand a whole month here Shihan?" She asks him curiously, sounding a little worried deep down. She sees him sigh and stares at him anxiously.

"He'll stay even if he can't withstand it… you and I both know that. He's truly bent on staying here that entire month to get the training he wants…." Kazuma replies plainly, then he bows slightly and walks into the forest.

Kagura watches him and sighs, then gets on her knees and then shifts her positioning to sit Indian-style. She rubs the top of her head a little and thinks about the injuries she had when Akito attacked her and compared them to Kyo's wounds. Her's was much worse, and she was in the hospital. But, Kyo's was still extremely bad and he ends up deciding to come here and ignore that pain in order to train. Sighing once more she gets to her feet again and turns around to see Kunimitsu staring at her.

Approaching her slowly, Kunimitsu smiles a little. "You shouldn't worry about Kyo so much. He's strong he'll be fine… Don't worry." He reassures her, smiling the entire time. "Now… lets fix this house… Shishou took the roof off of it last night. Kyo can rest while we do this, okay?" She nods and smiles back. Quickly Kagura runs and searches for wood. Kunimitsu walks to the door of the small house and groans. "Kyo… you worry everyone… but… some don't like to express it…" he whispers under his breath and to himself.

**x**

Back at Shigure's home, Tohru was cooking dinner, quiet as ever. She shook the pan a little so that every inch of the fish would be cooked. The rice cooker beeps many times before she scurries over to it and empties the rice out into a large bowl.

Kisa, Hiro, and Katsuro sat at the table, drawing pictures of Mogeta since they had just finished watching the latest episode of that anime. Turning around, Tohru gently smiles at them, and then the sadness returned. The chair Kyo always sat in was completely empty, and she wasn't able to see him walking around the house anymore. A month is so much longer when you're in love with the person that's left you for that amount of time.

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**And wa-lah! Chapter 21! And I actually can't wait to type the next one even though this chapter didn't end with much… but chapter 22 will begin halfway through the month. So…well I hope you all enjoy(ed) this chapter. And I'd like to thank all my reviewers! I still read your comments and reviews! Please continue to R&R! I love knowing what you're thinking and ur reactions to the events taking place in the story!**


	22. Focus Kyo!

**Chapter 22: Focus Kyo!

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba.**

**I understand this may not be the best Furuba Fanfic out there, but I love knowing what all of you think of it, may it be good or bad, and I'd like to continue learning about your thoughts. Hopefully, I'll be able to clear some things up if there are any questions. On a sadder note….there is only 2 chapters left! TT Please continue to R&R!

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Sitting quietly at the edge of a lake, Kyo stares at the water in slight irritation. He had been training with Kazuma for a little more then half of the month, and he didn't feel any different. He couldn't figure out a way to keep his mind on one task. All he was thinking about was Tohru, school, training, and beating Yuki in a fight. Gradually, he gets to his feet and dusts his hands on his pants gently, then turns around. "It all feels pointless now…" Kyo groans slightly then walks through the forest back towards the makeshift dojo.

The mini dojo had a roof once more. It was completely attached to the sides of the building as it should be and it was put on so well that it was almost impossible to tear it off. Approaching this structure, Kyo sighs and bumps into Kagura and falls backwards landing on the ground. He looks up at her and mutters, "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going…."

Kagura extends her hand to Kyo with a gentle smile on her face. It had been such a long time since the last time she went ballistic on him because of her love. "Here…" she whispers and then watches him grab her hand and pull himself to his feet. "There ya go!" she exclaims cheerfully. No more then a minute later she was running up to Kazuma by herself and then appears to be dismissed to relax.

Walking towards the dojo just as Kagura had, Kyo stops in front of Kazuma. "Am… I dismissed too, Shishou?" He asks curiously, clearly worn out already.

He shakes his head plainly. "You can't be dismissed Kyo… you have yet to focus on your training. You came here so that I can teach you… and at the moment I haven't made a dent in you…" Kazuma's voice trails off, placing his hand on Kyo's shoulder. "You'll be able to relax soon. But only when you can focus as you had the second day you were here." He adds quietly, then pats his shoulder and walks off to the wood that was still in the middle of the large yard.

Watching him walk away, Kyo sighs once again. After standing still in the same spot he was when Shishou walked away from him, Kazuma walks into the forest and meets up with his other students. He trudges over to the wood platform that Shishou was standing on earlier, and sits down, crossing his legs. Slowly, he closes his eyes and places his hands right down on the wood, bare palms touching the wood. Many things quickly rushed through his mind. Once again, he couldn't just concentrate on one particular thing. It was just everything at once and it was all jumbled together so that he couldn't even tell his own thoughts apart. His eyes slowly open and he looks ahead at the spot he was once standing it. Each breath he took he felt as though his insides were about to cave in even if it was giving him warnings. Lifting his hands up from the wood, he wraps his arms around his abdomen and winces slightly feeling more pain coming on. He had been doing nothing but training lately and all he had felt was the sensation of raging pins and needles all over his arms, legs, and abdomen. Staggering to his feet he looks at the ground and sighs. "I… wonder what Tohru's doing right now…" he whispers under his breath then stretches his arms and legs a little to try and stay loose. Every inch of his body was tremendously sore.

**x**

During school, at the same instant Kyo was wondering what Tohru was doing, she sat quietly in her seat, waiting for the final bell of the day to ring. She couldn't wait to get home. There wouldn't be any more work for another two to three months since they said that she could have some time off to prepare for any extra assignments and to buy her things for graduation.

Many minutes pass and then _'BING!' _Everyone gets to their feet quickly, except for Tohru and Yuki who were probably the slowest people when it came to getting up recently. They shuffle their feet across the tile that was laid throughout the school and exit through the front doors. The short silence was broken when Yuki spoke. "When we get home… would you like to watch Mogeta…?" he asks sounding slightly tired and extremely bored, "I heard it's a new episode. Mogeta has to escape from the tin can's lair or something. I don't know, I guess you'd have to ask Hiro and Kisa what's been happening recently…" he mutters and then rubs the back of his head in fair embarrassment.

"I wonder when Kyo-kun will be back…" she whispers sadly, her hands clenching her bag against her chest. Hearing Yuki sigh she looks at him curiously, "I'm sorry Yuki-kun, did you say something?" She sounded very concerned and sad that she wasn't listening to what he was saying. Clearly he was trying to help make her feel better. "You said something about a new Mogeta episode right?" She asks hoping that she heard correctly. He slightly nods and continues walking with her at his side. "Of course I'll watch it with you! I love that anime!" Tohru exclaims, putting on a cheerful expression while trying to sound extremely excited.

He glances at her a little and smiles gently. Soon enough, they reached Shigure's house and they enter it gradually. Quickly, they cooked two bags of popcorn and ate it while watching a marathon of Mogeta episodes that led up to the newest episode. Tears dripped from her eyes slowly as a sad scene comes up on the anime. It ends on a huge cliffhanger and the new episode wouldn't be televised for another two weeks. She smiles and gets up from the couch and walks upstairs without saying a word. Yuki couldn't help but worry about her and get even angrier with Kyo who wasn't even there. "You stupid cat… if you don't get back soon I'll drag your ass back here…" he grumbles under his breath, "It's the least I could do for Honda-san…" Yuki adds quietly, then gets up as well and heads into Shigure's room who was, once again, on the telephone. He peers in and listens in trying not to make a sound.

"You're so cruel Akito-san… it's not Kyo's fault that he's the stupid, brainless cat… If he doesn't beat Yuki… you shouldn't lock him away."

Akito, on the other end of the phone at the Sohma Estate, breaths' heavily hearing what Shigure has to say. "I've already informed Yuki about my plans… and I told you before him. You should know what I have planned. So… _no matter what _that dreadful cat will be locked away. He will be caged in for no one to see." She sighs quietly, and rubs the side of her head rather weakly. "Let that stupid fool train all he wants. He wont beat Yuki. He wont love Miss. Honda. And he won't have anyone that cares about him in any ways. Okay? Got that Shigure?" Akito exclaims sort of loudly allowing Yuki to barely hear what she was saying, but it was much better then hearing little whispery sounds.

"Yes… yes I know… even if he were to-." Yuki barges in cutting him off and knocking the phone out of his hand.

"YOU DAMN BASTARD!" he punches Shigure and he lands on the ground. Yuki kicks at Shigure viciously. "YOU'RE SETTING UP KYO EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW IT'LL MAKE HONDA-SAN SAD! HOW DARE YOU!" He grabs the collar of Shigure's shirt and pulls him to his feet, meeting him eye to eye angrily. Just as Shigure was about to speak, he interjects, "You make me sick… You and Akito keep doing things to hurt Honda-san…." Yuki punches him again. Shigure drops out of his grasp and scurries back until he hits a wall behind him.

"Yuki, god dammit! Calm down!"

He scowls at Shigure. "You're telling me… to calm down…" he whispers under his breath, loud enough for Sensei to hear. "You are always scheming with Akito, Shigure… and I can't stand how you could care less about other people's feelings…" Yuki mutters walking out of the room, looking at the ground. Suddenly, he slams Shigure's door and it snaps off the hinges and onto the floor, just in front of Shigure's feet.

Staring at the door on the floor, Shigure sighs deeply. "Yuki-kun….I'm sorry…but I can't go against Akito's word…" he mumbles to himself since Yuki wasn't in the room any more. Screaming was coming from the phone and Shigure then remembered that he was talking to Akito-san when Yuki came in. He grabs the telephone and listens to what is being said.

"YUKI-KUN LEAVE SHIGURE ALONE!" She was screeching almost breathlessly. Then she stopped, figuring that Shigure had just left the phone on the ground and forgot about her. He could hear her turn around and begin speaking to other people. Shigure listens to this attentively. "Did you burn it down? The dojo?" He hears her ask and then feels as if he went into shock. "And how is my little monster progressing in his little _training session?_" She asks curiously wondering if he was doing well or not.

"Akito-san…" Shigure hears someone begin, "The dojo has been burnt down, yet Kyo's training his still continuing. After watching him for the last half month, it seems he has yet to do anything he hasn't already done. But… he's landed about two punches on Kazuma-san." The person finishes, it was a man from the gang that had attacked and once kidnapped Tohru.

"Well… I hope he continues in that direction. He'll most definitely learn nothing new at the end of this month." Akito laughs evilly and then dismisses the men in her room that didn't speak, and the one that gave her the information. She sighs and lifts the phone back up to her ear. "Shigure… are you ever going to speak? Are you okay?"

He groans trying to fake the pain since he had been listening for quite some time. "Yes… I'm fine, thank you Akito-san…" Shigure says gently and then says good-bye abruptly. He hurries out of his room and goes to find Yuki. "YUKI!" He exclaims and suddenly, after entering the kitchen, he sees Yuki sitting down, and surprisingly, talking to Ayame.

"Yuki… Gure-san probably doesn't understand how you feel about Tohru-chan. Clearly, you love her. But, Gure… listens to every word Akito speaks and that's about it…What I think-." Yuki cuts him off.

"I'm afraid to know what you _think_…" he growls slightly.

Ayame laughs happily and then rubs the back of his head. "May I say what I wanted to say Yuki-kun?" He asks and when he receives a nod, he continues on. "I think… you should take Kyonkitchi and Tohru-chan away from here and build a house! Nothing says happy like living in the same room as the girl you love!"

Yuki shoots up from his chair and glares at Ayame angrily. Even Shigure knew what he was so mad about. "GET OUT! NOW! YOU SICK FREAK OF NATURE!" He exclaims viciously.

Coming down stairs at the sound of yelling, Tohru and Katsuro enter the kitchen to see what was going on. "Yuki-kun calm down!" She says in worry as she grabs his arm and pulls him away from the table, with the help of Shigure and Katsuro of course.

**x**

While they were trying to restrain Yuki so that he wouldn't try to kill Ayame, Kyo was standing in the center of the wood platform. He closes his eyes and shakes his head slightly, attempting to clear his mind. It wasn't working, he couldn't just think of just plain nothing, let alone one thing. He sighs in frustration and stomps his left foot roughly, it makes a slight crack in the wood. Carefully, he closes his eyes once more after opening them for a split second. Kyo starts to wince as he begins to concentrate too hard and ends up getting a headache.

He mumbles under his breath angrily. Lowering the pressure he was putting on his eyelids, he keeps them closed without having them tightly shut. Loosening his roughly closed fists, he looks down, eyes still closed. He begins to grind his teeth a little as he fished around his mind for the thing he knew he should completely concentrate on. Many overly extended minutes pass and he continues to just stand on the wood platform motionlessly. Kyo found himself drawing a complete blank, but nonetheless, he continued to try and focus on the task that he had forced himself to take hold of.

Suddenly, Kyo finds himself spinning around abruptly and extending his now opened right hand. A thrust of force rammed into his palm and his eyes gradually open. His eyes began to glow as he received a proud smile from Kazuma. "You… I didn't really… You're putting me on aren't you!" He exclaims accusingly. After seeing him shake his head a gentle smile crosses his face. "Let's… train…" Kyo whispers quietly. Kazuma removes his fist from the center of Kyo's hand and nods approvingly before taking nearly twenty steps away from Kyo and assuming a fighting position.

Quickly, Kyo charges at Kazuma and throws his fist towards his head and, almost at the same instant, rushes his other fist into his stomach. Shishou falls forward a little and then abruptly knocks him to the side and manages to place a smile on his face after ignoring the pain in his gut. "Focus harder Kyo!"

"ANY HARDER AND MY BRAIN WILL BURST! AREN'T YOU THE LEAST BIT HAPPY!" Kyo calls back even though he was roughly twenty feet away from Shishou. A gentle smirk crosses his face as he calms himself down and shuffles his feet to replace himself into his fighting stance.

He smiles at Kyo once more and assumes his defensive stance now, and thinks, **_You have no idea how proud I am of you. _**As Kyo began to approach him quickly, since he wasn't anywhere near far away, he slides to the left and as Kyo went to through his left leg up to kick, he catches it by his ankle. "You're not as fast as they recently assumed you were, are you Kyo?" he questions smoothly and then finds Kyo leaping with his right leg and spinning that foot into his face as he flipped his body to the side. They both hit the ground, Kyo harder since he didn't have much time to land on his feet.

Kazuma lands on his chest and rubs the left side of his face; it was completely red. Kyo had planted him flat in the face with his right foot with so much force he actually began to worry if Shishou was all right. Staggering to his feet he walks over to him and kneels down to check if he was in good health. "Shishou…." He mumbles glancing at his now slightly bruised cheek. "Eh… I'm sorry…" Kyo apologizes quietly and gets to his feet, pulling Kazuma to his at the same time.

"Well…" he looks up at Kyo after staring at the ground for a moment, "Now we can continue that training you wanted Kyo…" Kazuma finishes proudly and pats him on the shoulder, walking off into the mini dojo.

A bright smile rips across Kyo's face after he heard what Kazuma said at the end. He rubs the back of his head in embarrassment even though Shihan was no longer standing with him. Slowly, he walks off into the forest and sits at the lake that Yuki and Shigure said Tohru once lived near. At the time of her little tent home that is. Carefully, he touches the water, flinching a little, and runs his fingers across his forehead trying to cool down a little. "I can't wait to come back Tohru…" he mumbles and heads back to the makeshift dojo.

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**Here it is! Chapter 22! We are, sadly, nearing the end of Aikyou. Only 2 more chapters. Please continue to read and review so I can know what you think of this fanfic. Good or bad.**


	23. Joyful Sight

**Chapter 23: Joyful Sight

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Furuba.**

**Oh god… this is making me sad… Aikyou is coming very close to it's end, one more chapter after this one… TT. Please enjoy and continue to review! This chapter explains a lot. I don't know if it is true, but if it isn't then I made it up, if not, then well, just read, you'll see.

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The remainder of that month of training finally passed and Kyo was heading towards the path that went in the direction of Shigure's home. He glances at Shishou for a moment and says nothing as he turns back around and moves his feet to steadily walk down the dirt path. After walking for nearly twenty minutes since he was taking his time, he reaches the front door of Shigure's house, his fingers slip into the area where your hand goes into and he slides the door open gradually. Carefully, he steps into the house and looks around curiously, a bag slung over his shoulder that contained all the things he had brought to Kazuma's dojo and back. Sighing slightly, he advances up the steps and down the hallway to his bedroom. He opens his door and throws his bag at the bed and it bounces around a couple times before finally dropping off the edge and onto the floor.

Slowly, he exits his bedroom and walks into the bathroom where he washes his hands and cleans his face so that he can get whatever dirt was on him off. He rubs his face gently with a cotton-made cloth and tosses it against the mirror that sat on the wall above the sink. After leaving the bathroom he heads back downstairs and into the kitchen where he is startled by the sight. It looked as if a tornado hit everything in that room only. "Why…does this remind me of the days when it was only me, Yuki, and Shigure living here…"

Suddenly he begins to remember those days: _"AHH! Where's the refridgerator!" he had exclaimed. Yuki responded rather dully, "It's behind the mess that you made that I call crap…" Kyo growls and trudges through the mildew and mountains of filled garbage bags. It smelt worse then Shigure's bedroom and that's saying a lot! _He shivers and shakes his head; it wasn't nearly as bad as those days. He walks towards the refridgerator and grabs the milk, drinking straight from the carton. He gulps and puts the carton down on the counter, and sighs slightly. "Mmm…" Kyo mutters after swallowing the milk, which, he obviously enjoyed drinking.

He turns around abruptly, his left elbow hitting the carton as he does so. It drops to the floor making a little 'pop' sound since it was empty. Little drips leaked out the corner of the slightly open tip of the carton. He couldn't figure out why he was so shocked to see who was standing in front of him. Then again, the eyes that met his were just as shocked, possibly more pleased, to see him. Sliding his feet across the floor in a shuffling manner, he advances towards the person he was extremely happy to see.

Tohru's eyes grew large in great excitement, she was as happy as ever. Out of completely nowhere, she grabs a blanket out of the clean laundry basket and jumps at him, throwing her blanketed arms around him. He held her shoulders back so that they didn't touch him and he hugged her back slightly. He couldn't believe it was working. **_Is…this her stupid idea of breaking the curse? _**Kyo asks himself, but he couldn't object with her, he didn't care anymore. Every word they admitted to each other, he felt was completely true, he honestly did love her. When he was younger he was told a story about a young man and woman who thought they were in love with each other. But, they weren't allowed to marry one another. Coincidently, it was the same story Kyoko Honda told her daughter Tohru, but he didn't know that she knew of the story. All he could do was hold her close to him, for as long as time allowed him to. Even if it was only 'aikyou' he knew his feelings for her were as true as the color of the sky is every day. "I…missed you Tohru…" the words slipped out and before he could stop them, he found himself blushing, and enjoying the words he spoke.

"I… I missed you too Kyo-kun!" She exclaims happily, pulling out of the hug gently, tossing the blanket to the side. He smiles at her softly as he places his hands at his hips and tilts his head to the side a little. "We had a day off from school today, so…" she runs out of the kitchen for a moment and grabs a bag from the corner of the living room before hurrying back to him. "I have all the papers and stuff our teachers handed out…" Tohru looks at the floor slightly, and then glances at him out of the corner of her eye. Dropping the bag, she changes the subject. "I…haven't been cleaning much lately… my minds been on other things…" Tohru admits sounding somewhat sad about her words. Her expression brightens as he lifts her head up completely to meet eyes tenderly. "How… was training with Shishou-san…?" She asks curiously as she only hoped for the best.

Lifting up his left hand, he drops it on her head. Surprisingly he didn't bop her, but instead rested his open hand on her scalp, his fingers loosely running through her hair. "We'll just have to wait and see if it all paid off…." He mutters to her calmly before advancing past her. Stopping at the threshold he turns slightly to look at her. "You really should clean this kitchen. This vaguely reminds me of the times before you came into our lives…only…this is actually considered clean, kinda scary dontcha think?" Kyo laughs quietly under his soft breathing before exiting the kitchen completely.

She nods to no one in particular –since the kitchen was empty except for her- and smiles before walking to a closet just beside the kitchen, taking a mop, broom, and many cloths out of it. Tohru slips rubber gloves onto both of her hands after placing a bandana on her head to keep her hair out of her face. Gripping the broom she begins to push everything into a large, mountain style pile at the core of the room. Taking hold of the mop after putting the broom away neatly, she begins to swish away at the dirt that was still stuck to the ground. Tohru stayed in the kitchen for many minutes and during that time, Kyo had already run into Shigure and Yuki.

Kyo glares at the two of them, left eye twitching as his short fuse began to dwindle down to nothing. Shigure was continuously making jokes about him and how he left to train and everything while Yuki stood still annoyed, but some how seemed happy that Kyo was back. This –as it would anyone- surprised Kyo greatly and he took Yuki by the collar of the shirt before quickly letting go. "Oh no…. you're not getting me mad that easily Yuki…. When you least expect it, I'll challenge you to a fight and you'll see me victorious…" his voice trails off as his confidence began to evaporate like boiling water.

Sighing as he feels the irritation growing, Yuki shakes his head in disbelief. "Didn't Shihan teach you anything new? There isn't a way you can beat me … stupid cat. Stuck on such a useless effort still…" Yuki mutters sounding cross. They both shot each other harsh glares before lightening up their expression when they see Tohru walk out of the room to see them. She was still clothed by the rubber gloves, bandana, and raggedy old shirt and pants that she wore whenever she had to clean. Smiling happily, she walks over to them and looks at the three of them gradually. "Honda-san… I'm going to go back to the garden, if you'd like to continue to help me… you can." A soft smile crosses Yuki's face as he exits the house, going to the back yard.

Shigure rubs the back of his head and grins as he does so. "Good luck with our obnoxious little friend Tohru-kun!" He exclaims, hurrying to his bedroom to click away on his typewriter. The phone was beginning to ring off the hook as his editor frantically called the house to inform Shigure of the new deadline. He –to his editor's dismay- never picked up the phone, not even once.

The both of them stood together quickly, their faces beet red. Quickly, Kyo runs up the steps and slams his bedroom door as hard as he possibly good. The top hinge snapped and a loud cracking sound is heard throughout the house. Tohru winces; shivering a little as she hears the slamming of the door. Slowly, she makes her way up the stairs and knocks on Kyo's lopsided entrance. As she enters his bedroom, her eyes grow wide. His window was wide open. She runs over to it and sticks her head out, looking around frantically. Pulling herself back inside, she looks under his bed, in his closet, and even in the garbage pail. She wasn't paying one bit of attention to what she was doing. All she knew was that Kyo had just come back and he had already vanished from her sight. Running out of his room she looks in each room hoping to find him.

Meanwhile, in the garden, Kyo was staring down Yuki as they were suddenly meeting eye-to-eye. A smug grin crosses Cat-san's face as he knocks away Yuki's incoming fist. "I'm quicker now! GOT THAT! I'm faster then you! The damn rat!" he exclaims furiously, taking a stomping step toward Yuki, trying to make him feel intimidated.

Yuki, once again, shakes his head. "You're making a fool out of yourself Kyo…" he whispers, rubbing his forehead a little. "Listen to me," he began, dropping his hands to his sides, letting out a soft sigh. "Akito's-." Kyo cuts him off before he goes any farther.

"I don't care about anything she says! I could care less if everyone else thinks her word is law! You should obviously know -you of all people! - should know that I'm not apart of the juunishi! Therefore, I don't have to abide by Akito's retarded laws!" He shot ferociously, making Yuki feel slightly frightened at how he was acting and what his reaction was like.

"But Kyo…" Yuki began seeming clearly startled now.

"SHUT UP! I DON'T CARE! DO YOU THINK I CAN'T HANDLE MYSELF! I DON'T CARE IF AKITO HAS SOME KIND OF PLAN! I'LL OVERCOME HER SICK, PSYCHOTICNESS OKAY?" he roars obviously angered. Yuki takes a quick step back and stares at Kyo in utter incredulity. Appearing to calm down, Yuki makes eye contact with Kyo cautiously. Taking deep breathes now, Kyo mumbles, "Don't…treat me like I little kid okay Yuki… I can handle myself…" his voice had trailed off by now and he was walking away and around the house. Just as he rounded the corner of the house he bumps into Tohru who's expression showed sheer fright. His eyes grew wide as he looks at her. He hadn't transformed for one thing, but then a second passes and he abruptly poofs into his cat form. This was the first time in a while that he had transformed almost instantly.

Tohru drops to her knees and gathers Kyo up in her arms quickly, her head nestling into his furry, smooth haired body. "Kyo-kun…. can you…just stay calm… just for now…. For me?" She asks sounding a little scared.

A minute passes and he transforms back to his human form. Tohru flings herself against the house wall, her eyes closed as well as covered by her hands and the wall. As fast as he could, Kyo gets his clothes on and taps her on the shoulder gently. "I'm dressed now…" he mutters quietly as she hesitantly turns around to face him and Yuki once more, even though Yuki had his back to the both of them as he began picking leeks and strawberries. She weakly smiles at Kyo as he reaches for her hand and takes hold of it. "I'm… sorry about coming back and already starting problems…" Kyo says apologetically.

"It's…" she sniffles and pulls her hand out of his so that she could rub her eyes then her slightly stuffy nose. "It's okay Kyo-kun…" Tohru replies forgiving him instantaneously. "I'm going to call Uo-chan and Hana-chan… maybe we can all hang out. Welcome you back. Is that okay Kyo-kun?" She asks practically begging for his approval.

He nods almost invisibly. Watching Tohru happily clap her hands and skip away, he smiles slightly. There was nothing he liked more then to see that cheerful expression on her face. So easily he was able to change the delicate emotions of her's. Even so, he was proud to be the one that made her happy again, and that always made her ecstatic.

The images of graduation began to float throughout his mind as well as Yuki's. For the fact that they were thinking of the same thing was sort of frightening, but they didn't bring up that subject as much as they wanted to. Kyo left and went back into the house to unpack his clothes and put them in the hamper for Tohru to wash.

Dropping himself onto his bed, he stares up at the ceiling, once again thinking about graduation. What was going to become of him? Was his new training going to actually pay off this time? There were too many questions and each of them was far too hard to answer without taking an un-allowed peek into the near future.

**x**

Meanwhile, at the Main Sohma Estate, Akito was speaking with Kyo's father who he was estranged from and Kureno. They were all sitting at a small, but round table that allowed them to meet the eyes of each person at that was seated even if it meant they'd have to glance out of the corner of their eye. Her delicate voice broke the silence, though anger seemed to be raging throughout it. "Kyo's part of the curse is beginning to fade… We must dispose of Ms. Honda as quickly as possible. She really is becoming quite a troublesome little wench isn't she…" Akito's voice rang through their ears, and she was even speaking loud enough for anyone, that was right outside the door, to hear.

Kyo's father slammed his fists onto the table abruptly. "GET RID OF THAT GIRL THEN! THAT THING HAS TO BE LOCKED AWAY!" he exclaims angrily, his yelling was almost five times louder then Akito's regular speaking. "If his curse is broken… then… then that thing will be allowed to roam freely! He will believe that he wont have to listen to you and he'll give up on trying to beat Yuki and your plan, Akito-san, will fail!" His mouth was wide as he yelled as loud as possible.

Akito glares at Kyo's father roughly and gets to her feet and wobbles weakly to a desk. She places her hands on the top of it gently and looks down. Her fingers were shaking for no apparent reason… or was there something she didn't want them to know.

Finally, Kureno gets to his feet and walks up behind Akito. He stares at her slightly worried, but his expression was as blank as ever. "Akito-san…" his voice trails off as she falls backwards. Catching her, he sets her flat on her feet and turns Akito around, holding her up by her arms.

Haru walks to the door and touches the knob and stops himself as he hears the yelling and the slightly concerned tone coming from Kureno. His ear presses against the door gently and he listens in. Rin comes up behind him and wraps her arms around his waist. He smiles at her for a moment, then a serious expression overcomes his face and he continues to listen to the conversation coming from the room.

"If… these curses begin to fade as quickly… as they," Akito coughs in the middle of her sentence, "are, then I will perish…" Her voice was extremely shaky and was expressing her fear of death. "I… I can't die… I'm the God! I am GOD! HOW CAN I DIE!" She exclaims and hits Kureno. After realizing what she had done she hugs him gently, and sighs. "You've already left me Kureno… your curse is gone. You were the beginning of my downfall…" her voice trails off. "You… will perish with me?" She asks curiously. He nods blankly.

Haru's eyes grew wide and he staggers backward. He looks at Rin and smiles. "Akito-san… has a limited amount of time to live Rin-kun…" His voice was filled with excitement and it brought a strange feeling of joy to the both of them. They run out of the building and to their respective homes.

Slowly, Akito pulls away from Kureno and looks at Kyo's father. "We'll… dispose of Ms. Honda as soon as possible. For my sake as well as everyone else's. That thing… does not deserve to live." She finishes gradually and grins. The rest of the night they planned what they were going to do on the day of Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru's graduation. This graduation was something none of them were going to forget.

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**I don't know what I can say about this chapter. It turned out really well. I'd like to thank all of my reviewers! I've been seeing a few new names appearing and its making me happy to see them all, lol. I'm glad everyone's enjoying it. And if you would like to contact me email me at: or IM me at the S/N: YouCantSeeMe340**


	24. Graduation

**Chapter 24: Graduation**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Furuba. Only my Original Characters.**

**O.o What's that in Akito-san's hands, ah… it is the latest and final volume of Aikyou! Hits shelves once I click the submit button. This chapter, I had to make long..since...:cries: The end of Aikyou is here…. sniffles Please, enjoy. Please R&R. Please…bite my head off in your reviews as much as you want. I'll take whatever heat you throw at me. If you want to contact me feel free to email me as much as you want. I'll answer every question over IM or Email.

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A month gradually passes, the days just dragged along endlessly. The strain of going to school was wearing on them and it was getting rather old. Kyo couldn't help but contemplate on why they would continue to have school if they had already taken all of their finals and are ready to graduate. The day of graduation had fallen upon them as if it were an avalanche. Kyo awoke in the morning and took a shower after Tohru and got dressed into the black uniform they were to wear under the cap and gown. Tohru was in the kitchen talking happily with Shigure when Kyo came downstairs. He saw her wearing her cap already, and a soft smile leapt across his face.

Approaching them slowly he sits at the kitchen table and eats toast, drinking milk with it. Gulping it all down quickly, he gets back to his feet and turns around to see Yuki standing at the threshold of the kitchen. His hair was still a little wet from his shower. Kyo sighs and shoves past Yuki, who had clearly been awakened by his shower since his eyes were actually more then halfway open. Rubbing his head, getting his fingers wet a little, Yuki looks at Shigure and Tohru. "What's with him?" He asks wondering if the fear of being locked up was finally getting at his thoughts. Yuki groans and then sits at the table like Kyo had done and drinks orange juice while eating an English muffin.

"Maybe Kyo-kun is going to try on his gown!" She exclaims, her eyes glowing happily, her hands clasped together as she imagined everyone she knew in the graduation gowns. It was as if she had been dreaming of this day since the moment she moved in with the three of them. The only negative thing that she saw in her imagination of the graduation was the fact that Kyo would be taken away from her afterward. It was a new thing they had started, the cap and gown thing for high school graduation. They all supposed that it was because they wanted them to be mature when they were to graduate college. Each student had heard that it was against the rules to throw the hats up at the end of the ceremony when you're in college.

Finally upstairs since he was going so slowly, Kyo opens the door to his bedroom and stuffs the cap and gown into a plastic bag. Exiting his own room, he cocks his arm back and launches the bag forward. Moment later it plopped to the ground on the bottom floor of the house. It had startled everyone down there and they each took turns glancing up the steps after departing from the kitchen. Tohru grabs the bag and holds it for Kyo so that when he came back down she could give it to him. And just as she thought, he made his way down the steps slowly and extended his hand. She gives him the bag slowly, a bright smile once again taking refuge on her face.

He couldn't help but smile as he retrieved the bag from her grasp. Holding it at his side he glares at Yuki from the corner of his eye. As he walks towards the front door to exit the house for almost the first time since he had returned, Yuki stops him by grabbing him by the elbow. "Kyo…I have to talk to you…." He gasps as if he didn't want to say whatever it was but knew he should. Tohru looked at the both of them curiously wondering what either of them was going to do or say. For a moment it was a dead stare.

Kyo merely glares at him and pulls away from his grasp. He hurries outside and down the path that wound in and out through the forest until it eventually led out to the main road where the school would be located just a ways down. Quickly, he rushes to the school that was completely empty except for a few teachers, one of them being Mayu-san. Skidding to a halt, Kyo looks around somewhat frantically, and then runs to the corner of the school where a new forest begins. He pulls his black, school uniform shirt off and puts a white, training shirt on. Stretching his arms and legs for a moment he grins and realizes that he was already set to practice a little. He kicks at the air and throws many punches before deciding to stop knowing that it would be better if he didn't strain himself in any way or make any part of his body sore. Again, he changes shirts, this time back into the uniform shirt and cracks a few knuckles as he walks to the front of the school.

He sits on the steps that led up to the front doors of the high school. Kyo rolls his head around trying to loosen up a little. He didn't want to feel any type of stress; he had to keep focused, and self-assured. In a gentle tone he mutters, "I just have to remember my training with Shishou…just…remember your training." All he could do now was to stay positive and reassure himself whenever he felt the need to doubt his own abilities. Lifting up his head slowly, he sees Mayu-chan walking towards him.

She sits down beside him and looks at him curiously. "Since when do you not have a cocky expression on your face?" Mayu was apparently surprised by this and was most curious about what was going on. "You look as if the head of your family is coming…" her voice trails off.

Kyo looks at her abruptly and stares in shock. "Wha… How do you know about that?" he questions becoming even more inquiring then Mayu.

"Shigure-san and Hatori-san told me about him…"

Obviously she was yet to be informed that Akito was a girl. Then again, it was quite an easy mistake. Akito does look pretty manly for a woman. Kyo snickers as he began to think about that. "Really…?" he says out of nowhere, trying to sound interested. He did this often in class whenever he was informed of something new or was asked a question.

"You should get ready. Everyone will be coming soon. Find your spot in the lineup posted in the auditorium. There will be small numbers on the ground where u will be told to stand. Stand at the number your name is beside on the papers." She informs him quietly. And just before she leaves him to go inside to prepare her list of students to call off, she gives him a caring pat on the shoulder. "You should calm down. Relax Kyo…" Mayu walks into the school and towards the auditorium leaving Kyo on the steps –alone- once again.

Kyo nods to himself, feeling a little uneasy. He gets to his feet and walks into the school by himself. Slowly, he makes his way into the auditorium only to see Haru, Momiji, Kisa, Hiro, Katsuro, Isuzu, and Hatori sitting in the front row of the seating arrangement. There were about two free seats to either side. No doubt those chairs were being saved for Akito, Shigure, and Kureno. He groans and heads into the back room of the usual lunchroom that was transformed into an auditorium. Carefully, he pulls the gown out of the bag, but roughly pulls it on over his uniform. He sighs feeling like a complete idiot. Snatching the cap before it fell out of the leaning bag, Kyo slams it onto his head and moans in annoyance. "I look like a happy school boy!" Kyo exclaims to himself.

No more then two minutes later had Yuki and Tohru entered the same room he was waiting in followed by the final year students that were in the secret fan clubs. Eventually, the whole back room was packed and filled with people pulling their cap and gown onto their bodies, just to cover their school uniforms.

Tohru smiles proudly at Kyo and grabs his hands. "You look very handsome Kyo-kun!" She exclaims happily as she finally lets go of both of his hands. Looking at Yuki now, she tells him the same. "You look very handsome too Yuki-kun!" Tohru nods to both of them. There was nothing she was thinking of that could ruin their graduation. She didn't want to think about Kyo being locked up at the moment. She had done that earlier in the day.

Kyo smiles at her and messes around with his cap since it was becoming a bit of a nuisance. She places her left hand at her hip and sticks her right arm out, making the peace sign with her fingers. "Mom would be proud right now!" A happy grin crosses her face. Yuki and Kyo smile with her and break out into a soft laugh and soon enough she began to laugh as well.

Eventually -after all the messing around in the back room was over- everyone got in line. The only thing that was unique about the lineup was the various heights of each student. Other then that, each and every person looked the same, all of them wearing a silky black gown covering their regular, clean black school uniform. It wasn't necessarily in alphabetical order, but some spots would have a few people in a row according to their last name and other times they'd be completely jumbled up like an 'A' beside a 'Z'. But, that's only an example. Miraculously, the order our main characters were put in was: Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo. It's actually slightly surprising for the fact that 'H' and 'S' was eleven letters apart. Not that they minded the least bit.

In the audience, Momiji was hopping around excitedly in his seat, while Haru and Isuzu sat calmly watching the stage for members of their family. Kisa, Hiro, and Katsuro managed to put together a new, much easier version of Dai Hin Min. Not that it is a hard game at all. Just imagine it even easier. Suddenly, the doors opened making the light from the sun illuminate the auditorium. In came Shigure and right behind him steadily walked Akito and Kureno. They sat down in the final two seats in the front room. Akito and Kureno beside each other at the left of Haru. Shigure sat in the last seat at the opposite end, alongside Hatori.

The principal advances out from a large, navy blue curtain. A large wall was in front of the students so that parents, family members, and friends couldn't see them. They were all concealed at the moment except for the principal, teachers, and, of course, the audience. Akito let out a gentle laugh as if someone had said something funny that was like a private joke. The principal adjusts the microphone at the podium, which was centered at the left side of the stage. "Today… is one of the best days any student in this school could ever have. The right of passage into the real world. Each child that is graduating today has earned every part of their grade and has learned everything they could. We wish each and every one of them good luck in their future lives. May it be going to college and graduate school, or not going to college and starting a life, possibly even a family." He pauses, a proud smile inching onto his face. Raising his left hand slightly, he puts it to his waist and extends it to the side. "They have grown in spirit, heart, and mind from here." He motions to the halfway point and then raises his hand even higher to his head, only extended outward, "To here. Mind you, all of them are amazing and unique persons in their respective ways. But one thing they all share is that for life, they can make their own decisions. And those choices, allow them to succeed or fail. With this bunch of graduates... I see them all succeeding one way or another in the near future." The principal stops, his smile even bigger then before. He, too, was wearing the cap and gown, only his was a vibrant red that was almost impossible to miss.

The audience applauded happily, everyone was whistling and screaming out their family member's names. The only people that were utterly quiet were Akito, Kureno, and Shigure. Everyone else was either applauding, or in Momiji's, Kisa's, and Katsuro's case yelling out Tohru's name happily in great support. Haru whistles gently with his fingers before getting a quick lash across his arm by Akito's slapping hand. He glares at her, and then his expression lightens as he remembers what he had heard while eavesdropping a month earlier.

Mayu-chan walks across the stage and gives a respectful bow to the principal before taking stand at the podium. Hatori's eyes glowed a little, but it was a slightly invisible due to the fact that he was growing out the front of his hair a bit more so that both eyes would be somewhat covered. How happy he was to see Mayu-chan again. But, he didn't dare express it. The last time he expressed such love for someone, that person had been shown first hand pain. The pain of regret.

She smiles happily, and pushes the tassel of the cap away from her face. "Now, for your amazing, high school graduates!" Her voice rang throughout the former lunchroom that produced loud cheers from many families. "First, is…" she went on and on going through each name slowly so that no one missed a chance for a snapshot and all that good stuff. Finally, she reaches numbers 315, 316, and 317 (the slots that Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo were placed in.)

"As we approach the finally three students, I'd like to express something that they all exhibit. Throughout this entire school year, these students expressed their care and protection over each other as friends. A strong bond that most people don't have these days. The fights they have are weakened by the good times. I know that two of them are always getting a long. No matter how they are paired up. One is always nice to another in some way. The strongest part of a friendship is faith. A friendship without fights and arguments always becomes a strong one. It's always better to avoid these conflicts in life. And, these three have progressed so well that they have a true friendship now. One that doesn't consist of yelling at one another and getting into fights about silly or important things." This speech had caught everyone's attention; even Kyo was listening to her, which was a first. "I wish these three extra luck on their journey through life. As even with rocks the best of friends is always called… a _trio_." The audience erupted in cheers and applauds. Kyo was shocked at her words and felt his body freeze. It was the same with Yuki and Tohru. The whole front row was the loudest of everyone there. All, once again, with the exception of Akito, Kureno, and Shigure who were completely quiet.

"Okay…settle down." Mayu laughs gently. The audience gradually silences. "The first is Ms. Tohru Honda!" The audience clapped, with the main clapping coming from Momiji, Kisa, Katsuro, and Hiro.

Tohru shyly walks across the stage and all the way to Mayu-san. She bows her head in slight embarrassment and is asked to stay behind her on the stage. Her face got red the more she got the feeling of embarrassment. She tightly gripped her high school diploma. "Next, is Yuki Sohma!" Mayu exclaims and then hands Yuki his own diploma as he approached her and stood beside Tohru. "And last, but not least, Kyo Sohma!" He trudges across the stage almost exactly the same as Tohru. He accepts the diploma and stands beside Yuki, grumbling a little.

"Everyone…to one of the most held together friendships in school…. give it up for these three. They've become true friends…" Everyone once again puts his or her hands together. The three of them bow, caps dropping to the ground, plopping as they did so.

Hours passed over until they finally got away from the mob of congratulations. Akito was nowhere to be seen after the students had been dismissed. Kyo grins after noticing this and decides that he could finally enjoy himself and spend some time with Tohru and his 'friend' Yuki.

Walking outside of the school through the back door, Kyo, Tohru and Yuki lean against the walls quietly. Almost simultaneously they pull their gowns off and are again, in their school uniforms. The girls uniform never really changed much, so the color of Tohru's outfit was the same, like mentioned earlier though, Kyo's and Yuki's uniform was black. Suddenly, Kyo bursts out laughing and the two of them stare at him curiously. "We did it huh? We showed everyone we could graduate and we did!" he exclaims trying to sound happy. Tohru nods many times before Kyo stops her by putting his hand on her head. "I bet your mother's proud of you…" he whispers to her. She smiles and nods once more, but this time she only shook her head up and down once. Yuki grins and pats Tohru on the shoulder as he silently agreed with Kyo.

Then, as if everything were back to normal, Kyo walks away from them and stands at a clearing nearly twenty feet away from the wall they were leaning against. Slowly, Kyo pulls his black school uniform shirt off and pulls his white training shirt on. He glances at Yuki. "You have to accept Yuki…. Fight me… just one more time…" Kyo says quietly.

Yuki nods and walks to the same clearing and stands about fifteen feet away from Kyo, just across from him. Tohru stood by and watched from her spot against the wall seeming worried about what they were about to do. "Kyo…promise me, that after this fight…you let me get a sentence in…" he calls to him as he set down his condition.

"Fine!" Kyo calls back to him, shifting into a readied stance. Yuki got into his own stance and it back.

Kyo ran at Yuki swiftly and began throwing punches left and right. He actually nailed him in the chest and face once or twice but missed with every kick that he had lunged at him desperately. Suddenly, Kyo stops dead in his tracks. Closing his eyes he began to think about his training. He opens his eyes, full of extra confidence and threw one of the last punches his body would allow. A loud 'thwack' filled the air. Everything was silent. Kyo dropped his head down, ashamed. Yuki had caught his fist, making his palm burn. "I…guess I really wasn't meant to be the Rat… I wasn't born to beat you. I was born to fail miserably…and ruin things…"

Out of kindness, Yuki pats Kyo's shoulder, releasing his fist. "Now…let me-." His voice faded as he realized that Kyo had dropped into another fighting stance. He sighs and gets ready.

"One more!" he exclaims sounding a bit like he was full of sorrow. Yuki nods giving in to Kyo's persistency.

He runs at Yuki and begins to throw furious punches. This time he was missing completely. Nothing had landed during this bout either. He was doing even worse then before and it was making him angry. **_He had caught my kick. He caught it during our training and when I attacked again and landed my kick he decided that it was time to continue my training. What did he teach me after that? _**Then, he began to believe he was able to hear Kazuma as he fought with Yuki for the second time. _Kyo, to focus is one thing, but to stay focused is another. Concentrate on your target, not your enemy. Think of only your objective, not your anger. Believe you can fight, without releasing your fury._ Everything he said had deeper meaning. He found himself able to understand all of it now. He was not to think about Yuki while he fought, but to think about who he was fighting -even if it was Yuki- as just a person he was sparring with. He should only think about what he was fighting for, and not fight blindly with his anger. **_I have to believe in myself and not fight ruthlessly._**

Abruptly, Kyo spins around and whacks Yuki in the face with his left foot, leaving him on the ground before he had the chance to defend himself in any way. His jaw drops slightly as he realizes what he had just done. He stares at Yuki motionlessly and blinks many times- it felt like a million. "I… Did I… just beat Yuki?" he mutters now sounding slightly confused at this.

Tohru runs to the both of them, still in her cap and gown and looks at them. "You…you did it Kyo-kun!" She exclaims as she begins to help Yuki back to his feet. He wobbled around a little and held himself up by putting his hand on her shoulder. "You wont be locked up now! And… and you'll be able to become a member of the Juunishi!" Tohru cheers on happily, staggering over to Kyo with Yuki stumbling beside her. He smiles at her, and puts his hands at his own hips proudly, and looks at Yuki with a victorious grin.

Suddenly, from the door of the school, Akito approaches them with a large, mysterious grin crowning his face. Her mouth opens and she speaks with certitude in her tone, "There's a little problem…."

Dropping away from Tohru, Yuki looks at Akito breathlessly. The last word to escape his mouth were, "No…"

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**AHH! 'Aikyou' is over! AHH! Cliffhanger! Omg! I'm honestly crying right now. I feel like I could've made this story longer…but….I felt that 24 chapters felt just right. I hope everyone else feels the same. And, I give you all permission to bite my head off!**

**Email: YouCantSeeMe340**


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